3 weeks ago
Survivor Recalls 13-Year Trauma After Tejpal's Rape Conviction
A woman who says she was hurt by a powerful magazine editor wrote a long post about what happened to her.
About 13 years ago, when she was 27, she was sexually assaulted by Tarun Tejpal.
He was the boss of the news magazine Tehelka.
A court that first heard the case said he was not guilty.
But a higher court recently said that first decision was badly wrong.
The higher court found him guilty of rape and sent him to prison for 10 years.
The woman says the long court case made her feel watched and judged.
She says people questioned her clothes, her messages, and why she didn't cry.
Tejpal says the decision is wrong and he will ask a bigger court, the Supreme Court, to look at it.
The woman's mother says the final verdict lifted a heavy weight from her heart.
Bombay High Court's Goa bench convicted former Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal, overturning his 2013 acquittal.
Tejpal was sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for raping a colleague twice in a hotel elevator in 2013.
The survivor wrote on Substack about 13 years of public scrutiny, including a cross-examination spanning over 1,000 pages.
The High Court termed the trial court's acquittal "perverse" and criticized its "perfect victim" expectations.
Tejpal says he will approach the Supreme Court, asserting the judgment was "wrong."
- Who
- Tarun Tejpal, former editor of Tehelka magazine, and the survivor of the 2013 rape, whose identity is legally protected.
- What
- Tejpal was convicted of rape by the Bombay High Court's Goa bench and sentenced to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment, overturning his earlier acquittal.
- Where
- In a hotel elevator on the sidelines of ThinkFest in Goa, India; the case was heard in Goa courts.
- When
- The assaults occurred on November 7 and 8, 2013; the conviction came last week, and the survivor's account was published on Wednesday.
- Why
- The High Court found the trial court's acquittal "perverse" and ruled that Tejpal raped the survivor, rejecting the stereotype-based scrutiny of her behavior.
Survivor and High Court
Tarun Tejpal's Defense
Guilt and Conviction
Survivor and High Court
The Bombay High Court found Tejpal guilty of rape, calling the lower court's acquittal "perverse."
Tarun Tejpal's Defense
Tejpal says the High Court's order is "wrong" and will approach the Supreme Court against it.
Motive Behind Allegations
Survivor and High Court
The survivor says she was sexually assaulted by a powerful man responsible for her livelihood, and that he had many powerful defenders.
Tarun Tejpal's Defense
Tejpal called the case a "political vendetta," though he initially said the incident resulted from "an awful misreading of the situation."
Standards for a Victim
Survivor and High Court
The High Court criticized the trial court for expecting a "perfect victim" and scrutinizing the complainant's behavior through stereotypes.
Tarun Tejpal's Defense
The Goa sessions court had acquitted Tejpal, reflecting skepticism about the complainant's behavior and credibility.
Key facts
- Convicted
- Tarun Tejpal, aged 62
- Sentence
- 10 years' rigorous imprisonment for rape
- Date of crime
- November 7-8, 2013
- Location of crime
- Hotel elevator at ThinkFest, Goa
- Trial duration
- 13 years
- Cross-examination
- Over 1,000 pages
- Lower court ruling
- Acquitted by Goa sessions court five years ago
- Next step
- Tejpal plans to appeal before the Supreme Court
- Related publication
- Tehelka magazine, now defunct
Quotes
Unnamed survivor
Victim of Tarun Tejpal rape case
“"For thirteen years, power has demanded I remember, explain, defend and withstand its categorization and reduction of my entire being"”
NDTV
“"I was turned simultaneously, into a public person and an anonymous one, thrown into the spotlight and erased"”
NDTV
Sources
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