Mumbai: Following a woman journalist’s allegations of sexual misconduct against editor-in-chief of Tehelka weekly Tarun Tejpal, the Goa government has ordered a preliminary inquiry into the case.
While Tejpal has apologised and said he was stepping down from his post for six months to “do the penance that lacerates” him, women activists and women politicians across the country are certainly not happy with what they call “self-punishment and a paid holiday for six months”.
Suman Agrawal, Secretary, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, told Gulf News, “Such types of cases are increasing throughout India and we have to be sensitive to it. In an age when women are well educated and going out into the world to pursue their careers or work for a living, the government should ensure they are safe and secure in their working environment. Otherwise, it would be regressing to the old days when women could not venture out.
“Strict action is the answer to deal with such incidents...and internal committees to deal with harassment should be set up in all organisations,” she said.
National Commission for Women member Nirmala Samant-Prabhavalkar said that the commission would like to talk to the victim and is likely to take suo moto cognizance of this issue.
With the Goa government taking suo moto action on this incident Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikkar said, “Right now we do not have a clear indication if the incident that happened in Goa” and therefore the inquiry. If it shows it happened in Goa, formal charges would be filed, he said.
Tejpal has been accused of sexually assaulting the journalist on two occasions during the “Think festival” event organised by the magazine in Goa earlier this month. Police are expected to study the CCTV footage of the five-star hotel where the incident occurred.
The victim had complained to Shoma Chaudhary, managing editor of Tehelka, accusing Tejpal of misconduct. In her letter she wrote, “From the very first moment, I wanted to call you, or find you and tell you what he had done to me. I had to process the fact that it was Tarun who molested me — my father’s ex-colleague and friend, ----‘s (her friend’s) dad, and someone I had so deeply respected and admired for so many years.”
The incidents occurred in the lift of the hotel.
The journalist’s narration tells of the misconduct of Tejpal on November 7, the opening night of Tehelka’s Think festival, after she had “discharged my duties for the day as chaperone for Robert De Niro. As it was De Niro and his daughter’s first night in Goa and at the festival, my editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal accompanied De Niro, Drena De Niro (his daughter) and I to De Niro’s suite to wish him goodnight.”
After leaving their suite, Tejpal pulled her back into the lift, kept pressing buttons on the lift’s panel to make the elevator stay in circuit and not open and began molesting the young woman. It happened again on the following day.
The shocking incident has also irked the Bharatiya Janata Party with party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi saying the case should be taken to logical conclusions.
Top journalist of The Hindu group N Ram said the action is not just harassment but it appeared to be an attempted rape.
Super cop Kiran Bedi said police should take suo moto action since an act of crime has been committed.
Chaudhary of Tehelka has said that the woman journalist only wanted an written apology to be circulated in the office and a committee to look into anti-sexual harassment cases be set up and that these have already been done.
However, the journalist, according to reports, said she was “deeply disappointed by Tehelka’s response”.
