TEAM HERALD
PANJIM: The Crime Branch on Monday filed a chargesheet against Tehelka’s ex-editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal in the alleged sexual assault case under the new Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013, nearly 78 days after it had registered a suo-moto case against him.
The chargesheet comprising 2846 pages and running into 12 volumes was submitted by senior Crime Branch inspector Sunita Sawant before the Chief Judicial Magistrate.
Tejpal has been booked under Sections 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 354-A (sexual harassment), 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 376 (rape), 376 (2) (k) (rape by a person of a woman in his custody taking advantage of his official position) and 376 (2) (f) (rape by a relative or guardian or a person in a position of trust or authority, and rape by a person in a fiduciary position) of the Indian Penal Code.
Fifty-year-old Tejpal was arrested on November 30, 2013, a week after CB registered an FIR against him. Following a 10-day interrogation, he has been serving judicial custody since December 11, 2013 in Sada sub-jail.
The voluminous chargesheet has taken e-mails exchanged between the victim, the accused and former Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhary; Tejpal’s apology e-mail admitting to the ‘sexual liaison’ against the victim’s wishes and hotel CCTV garbs as primary evidence. Statements of 152 witnesses were recorded, some of whom testified before judicial magistrates under Section 164 of CrPC.
Though there was no CCTV camera inside the lift of Guest House 7 in the resort where the alleged incident occurred, the Crime Branch is basing its claims on footage recovered from the hotel outside the lift which, the investigating agency says, showed the victim in distress.
The chargesheet mentions that the CCTV footage was subsequently identified by the victim during the Scene of Offence Panchanama. “There is sufficient evidence available in the form of documents and statements on record to prove that incident of rape, sexual harassment, and outraging the modesty on victim by Tarun Tejpal which took place in the lift… was covered under CCTV Surveillance. The movement of victim along with Tarun Tejpal entering the lift and coming out, after commission of crime on both the days ~ November 7 and 8 ~ is properly available in the CCTV footage which was subsequently identified by victim during the Scene of Offence Panchanama. It is important to mention that there is no CCTV camera inside the lift,” an extract from the chargesheet copy reads.
The forensic reports of electronic records such as computers and mobile phones from which e-mails and SMSs were generated by the victim and Tejpal have also been attached with the main chargesheet.
Tejpal’s e-mail to the victim and subsequently the office, apologising for his act has been taken as strong evidence against Tejpal.
In its final analysis, Crime Branch concluded that Tejpal, who the victim trusted as a father figure and respected as a senior colleague, had committed the offence on her. “This incident has caused serious psychological injury to the dignity, self-esteem and overall personality of victim young woman journalist who has made a mark for herself in the field of journalism,” the Crime Branch opined.
