MUMBAI: A court in India has acquitted former top news magazine editor Tarun Tejpal of all charges of all sexual harassment and rape, the prosecution said.
Tarun Tejpal, aged 58, led Tehelka magazine which made a name for itself for its exposes of corruption and abuse of power in high places before its downfall after the scandal.
Police said he assaulted a female staffer in a hotel elevator during a conference in the coastal state of Goa in 2013. Tejpal, who was arrested on November 30, 2013, was later released on bail and has been contesting the allegations since then.
Special Public Prosecutor Francisco Tavora said that a Goa trial court had acquitted Tejpal and the prosecution planned to appeal. “Seriously aggrieved,” Tavora said.
Tejpal said he had been falsely accused of sexual assault by his colleague and that his family went through a difficult period.
“The past seven-and-half years have been traumatic for my family as we have dealt with the catastrophic fallout of these false allegations on every aspect of our personal, professional and public lives,” he said in a statement his daughter read out at the court premises. “In an awfully vitiated age, where ordinary courage has become rare, I thank her for standing by the truth.”
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The case threw a spotlight on challenges women face in Indian workplaces where, activists say, few speak up about sexual harassment by colleagues, managers or employers, fearful of losing their jobs or facing public opprobrium.
The Goa government is expected to challenge the verdict in the High Court. During the trial, the prosecution examined 71 witnesses and cross-examined five defence witnesses.
The case of the prosecution mainly hinged on the statement of the victim, statements of some of her colleagues and electronic evidence including e-mails and WhatsApp messages. The examination-in-chief of the victim, the prosecution’s first witness, was held in court by the prosecution in March 2018.
The trial resumed in October 2019 after Tejpal had moved the Bombay High Court and then the Supreme Court for quashing the charges against him, pleas that were turned down by both
