New Delhi: Known for exposing various scandals in the country with its investigative journalism, Tehelka magazine will now face police probe following allegations of sexual assault against its former editor Tarun Tejpal. Goa administration has ordered an investigation into the incident which allegedly took place during the 'Think' festival held in the state. The Goa police has asked the 5-star hotel where the Tehelka 'Think' festival was held to hand them the CCTV footage of the time when the incident took place.
Despite the seriousness of the allegations, Shoma Chaudhary, Managing Editor at Tehelka, has not ruled out a probe into the incident. What seems to be more worrying is Choudhary's continued support for Tejpal.
Reacting over the incident, Choudhray said that the girl is not ready for police complaint. However, Choudhray's comment has been challenged by women activist. "She has got a fresh statement from the girl in which the victim has clarified her stand. Please ask her about the current position of the girl. The girl has apparently told Choudhary that if police asks me I will tell them what has happened," said Kavita Krishnan.
While Choudhary has called for the setting up of a sexual harassment cell, her response to the incident is being perceived to be too-soft considering her condemnation of CBI director Ranjit Sinha's "enjoy rape" remark. "Ranjit Sinha should lose his job for his remark on enjoying rape, is appaling that he can even think of defending such a remark," Choudhary had tweeted then.
Tejpal, on the other hand has recused himself from his role as Editor-in-Chief for a period of six months on Wednesday. Tarun Tejpal, in an email to Shoma Chaudhary said, "A bad lapse of judgment, an awful misreading of the situation, have led to an unfortunate incident that is against all we believe in and fight for. I have already unconditionally apologised for my misconduct to the concerned journalist, but I feel impelled to atone further. I am therefore offering to recuse myself from the editorship of Tehelka, and from the Tehelka office, for the next six months."
Meanwhile, the incident has blown into a major controversy with the National Commission for Women (NCW) stepping in. NCW has said that it will take cognizance of the matter. Talking to CNN-IBN, Former IPS officer Kiran Bedi termed the incident as an act of crime and called for a police probe into the incident. "It's already admitted, the complaint is on email, the accused has said that there has been an error of judgement, so therefore, I think an act of crime has been committed and police should, police could even take suo moto action.
Even certain people within the industry feel that an editor should not get away by recusing himself over an incident as serious as sexual assault. "This is not an internal affair. This cannot be dealt with someone recusing themselves for six months and then presumably come back, beacuse the law of the land is very clear and I think Tarun Tejpal is going to have a very hard time. I think these cases have to be properly investigated, we don't want a witch hunt, there are legal safeguards. I think the women's movement must educate women, including highly qualified women to make a bigger noise about it provided one is clear about the facts and are willing to face the public glare because that is bound to happen to a certain extent," said Hindu editor N Ram.
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