'That Makes It Simpler': What Tarun Tejpal Allegedly Told Survivor When She Resisted
News india 'That Makes It Simpler': What Tarun Tejpal Allegedly Told Survivor When She Resisted 'That Makes It Simpler': What Tarun Tejpal Allegedly Told Survivor
News india 'That Makes It Simpler': What Tarun Tejpal Allegedly Told Survivor When She Resisted 'That Makes It Simpler': What Tarun Tejpal Allegedly Told Survivor When She Resisted Published By, Last Updated: August 07, 2026, 07:17 IST Editor of the now-defunct investigative magazine, Tehelka, had used his seniority before violating all norms of appropriate behaviour. Evidence presented to court gives details. Rapid Read Tehelka editor Tarun Tejpal. (Photo: AFP) Tarun Tejpal’s conviction in a rape case on Thursday has once again shed light on the unequal gender dynamics in workspaces. One of the prosecution’s key pieces of evidence was an email he sent to the survivor after the incident, NDTV reported, in which he confesses highlighting his seniority before violating norms of appropriate conduct. Tejpal, founder and former editor of Tehelka, was accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague in November, 2013. The incidents took place in an elevator at a five-star hotel in Goa during the magazine’s ThinkFest event that year. A trial court had acquitted him in May 2021. Later, the Goa government challenged that ruling in the Bombay High Court, which set aside the acquittal and convicted him.
Email As Key Evidence During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta relied heavily on the email Tejpal sent after the incident. Mehta said the email showed Tejpal admitted the encounters had taken place. He pointed to Tejpal’s apology for a “lapse of judgment" and his expression of shame. Tejpal, however, claimed the encounters were consensual. His lawyer, Abad Ponda, argued the email referred only to consensual verbal exchanges of a sexual nature. The email was sent on November 19, 2013, a day after the survivor complained to Tehelka’s Managing Editor. In the e-mail, Tejpal said, as per the report, he had worked with one of her parents and admitted he had broken a “long-standing relationship of trust and respect". He also acknowledged her objection to his position of authority. He wrote that when she said he was her boss, he had replied, “That makes it simpler". “You are a young woman I have been very proud of, as a colleague’s daughter, and then as a colleague in my own office. I have watched you grow and mature professionally into a journalist of great integrity and promise… It wrenches me beyond describing, therefore, to accept that I have violated that long-standing relationship of trust and respect between us and I apologise unconditionally for the shameful lapse of judgement that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions on 7 November and 8 November 2013, despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from me," he wrote.
The BriefWire