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Read Victims complete email to Tehelka Tarun Tejpal Sexual Assault Case

22 November 2013
Dear Shoma,
It is extremely painful for me to write this
email to you I have struggled with finding
an easier way to say it, but there isnt one.
The editor in chief of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal,
sexually assaulted me at Think on two
occasions last week. From the very first
moment, I wanted to call you, or find you and
tell you what he had done to me but given
how absorbed you were at Think; preparing
for and conducting sessions, and the fact
that it was impossible for the two of us to get
even a minute alone together, I could not. To
add to this, I had to process the fact that it
was Tarun who molested me my fathers ex
colleague and friend, Tiyas dad, and
someone I had so deeply respected and
admired for so many years.

Both times, I returned to my room in a

completely distraught condition, trembling
and crying. I went straight to Shougat and
Ishans room, where I called G Vishnu and
told them what had been done to me. (All
three of them are copied on this email. You
can contact them for any clarifications you
see necessary). The second time he molested
me, I even told Tiya what happened. When he
heard Id told Tiya (she confronted him), he
lashed out at me, and I became truly terrified
of what he would do. I avoided him in all
situations except in rooms full of people,
until I checked out of Think on Sunday.

As of Saturday evening, he sent me text

messages insinuating that I misconstrued a
drunken banter. That is not what happened.
Banter does not involve forcing yourself on
someone, trying to disrobe them, and
penetrate them with your fingers despite
them pleading for you to stop. As you read
through the details of what happened in the
attachment to this mail, I hope you will also
understand how traumatic and terrifying it
has been for me to report this to you and
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yet how critical it is that Tehelka constitute

an anti sexual harassment cell as per the
Vishakha guidelines immediately, to
investigate this matter. At the very least, I
will need a written apology from Mr Tejpal
and an acknowledgement of the same to be
circulated through the organization. It cannot
be considered acceptable for him to treat a
female employee in this way.

On the night of 7th November 2013, the

opening night of Tehelkas Think festival, I
had discharged my duties for the day as the
chaperone for Mr Robert De Niro. As it was
Mr De Niro and his daughters first night in
Goa and at the festival, my editor in chief Mr
Tarun Tejpal accompanied Mr De Niro, Drena
De Niro (his daughter) and I to Mr De Niros
suite to wish him goodnight. (As his
chaperone, my work was to be available all
day to Mr De Niro and Drena, take them
sightseeing, make sure they were well looked
after in Goa and at the Hyatt until they
retired to their suite at night. )

As we left the suite, Mr Tejpal and I were in

conversation I have known him since I was
a child, he had worked closely with my father
who was also a journalist, and after my
fathers accident Mr Tejpal had always been a
paternal figure to me. He was responsible for
offering me my first job, and was always just
a phone call away whenever I needed his
advice on a story or life. His daughter, Tiya
Tejpal and I are very close friends as well.

As we made our way out of the elevator of

Block 7 at the Grand Hyatt, Mr Tejpal held my
arm and pulled me back into the lift. He said
Lets go wake up Bob (Mr De Niro) and I
asked him why he wanted to do that. I then
realized that Mr Tejpal was simply pressing
buttons on the lifts panel to make the
elevator stay in circuit, preventing it from
stopping anywhere, and for the doors to
open.

At this point, he began to kiss me from the

first moment of his doing so, I asked him to
stop, citing several reasons, including my
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friendship to Tiya, my closeness to his family,

the fact that he had known me since I was a
child, the fact that I worked for Tehelka and
for Shoma Chaudhury who is my managing
editor and mentor. It was like talking to a
deaf person. Mr Tejpal lifted my dress up,
went down on his knees and pulled my
underwear down. He attempted to perform
oral sex on me as I continued to struggle and
hysterically asked him to stop. At that
moment he began to try and penetrate me
with his fingers, I became scared and pushed
him hard and asked him to stop the lift. He
would not listen. The lift stopped on the
ground floor as Mr Tejpals hands were on me
and could not press the button for yet
another floor to keep it in circuit. As soon as
the doors opened, I picked up my underwear
and began walking out of the elevator rapidly
he was still following me, asking me what
the matter was.

I said Its all wrong. I work for you and

Shoma. He said first Its alright to be in
love with more than one person, and then
he said, Well, this is the easiest way for you
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to keep your job. I was walking still faster,

blinking back tears.

By this time, we had made our way from

Block 7 to the main lawns of the Grand Hyatt,
where I walked into the grassy dinner area
full of people and Mr Tejpal walked off
towards the performance area. Right as soon
as he was out of sight, I took a taxi back to
my hotel the International Centre for Goa,
where the Tehelka staff was staying, and
went to the room where the Literary Editor
Shougat Dasgupta and the Photo Editor Ishan
Tankha were staying. I also called another
friend and colleague investigative reporter
G Vishnu to the room and told them what had
occurred. While the four of us were talking in
the balcony, Mr Tejpal sent me a text
message from his personal phone number at
1.17 am, which said The fingertips. This
was the extent he had managed to penetrate
me before I pushed him and ran out of the
lift. I told the people with me on the balcony
about this. Some of us considered resigning
as soon as Think was over. I called my
boyfriend Aman Sethi in Addis Ababa,
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Ethiopia, from Ishan Tankhas iPhone and told

him what had happened.

I was confused, hurt and really, really scared.

At that point I did not want to lose my job.
And so the next morning, I went about my
work determined not to give Mr Tejpal or
Tehelka a reason to fire me, as I was sure
they would do once this story got out. At a
few points of the day, I discussed the events
of the previous night with Shougat Dasgupta,
G Vishnu and Ishan Tankha, who were
concerned about me after the state they had
seen me in the previous night. In the
afternoon, I accompanied Mr De Niro, his
daughter, Sir VS Naipaul, Lady Naipaul and
Mr Tejpals wife to the Governors bungalow
for lunch.

Given the company we were in, I did not

make any mention of what had occurred to
Ms Geetan Batra, Mr Tejpals wife. Once I had
escorted Mr De Niro back to his room post
lunch, he expressed a desire to attend one of
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the sessions at the Main Hall. I brought him

down to the Green Room, where Mr Tejpal
found us, and asked me to bring Mr De Niro
back down for Mr Amitabh Bachchans
session as he wanted the two to meet. I took
Mr De Niro and his daughter shopping to
Panjim, and brought them back in time for Mr
Bachchans session as instructed. Once the
session was done, Mr Tejpal, Mr De Niro, Mr
Bachchan and a few other members of the
film industry, lawyers, politicians etc were
supposed to meet at the Block 7 Grand Club
for drinks.

I escorted Mr De Niro and Drena to this bar,

told them I would return to my hotel, change,
and be right back. While I was getting
dressed at my hotel, Mr Tejpal called me from
ThakurJis phone (Thakurji is the caretaker
and manager of Tehelkas Bombay office
premises) and asked me where I was. I
informed him I was just about to leave for the
Grand Hyatt. In the taxi I noticed he had
already sent me two text messages on my
phone which said Where r u? at 8:29and
then ?? at 8:42. from his personal number.
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I replied with the following messages: On

my way to the lounge 8.42 pm, Had to sort
out a lost package for Drena and get a bit
presentable. See you in 10 at 8.44 pm and
Call tee she needs you at 8.47 pm as Tiya
had messaged me asking to help her find
Tarun. At this point I was trying to be as
normal and professional as possible and
somehow get through my duties.
Five minutes later, as I was walking into the
Grand Club at Block 7, Mr Tejpal was coming
out of the lounge. He pointed at me asking
me to stop. I was already worried that I was
late and that Mr De Niro had asked for me.
Mr Tejpal came to me and said Come up with
me, we have to get something from Bobs
room. I was frightened that this would lead
to a repeat of the previous night and so I
said, What does he need? Ill go get it. I
was scared of getting into the lift with him
again, and more terrified that he was going
to try and take me into a room this time. By
this time he was holding me by the wrist and
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had taken me into the lift (which is barely a

few steps away from the lobby of block 7
where he had asked me to wait). When the
doors closed, he started to try and kiss me
again. I said Tarun, please, no, just stop,
he pulled away, smiled, patted my cheek and
said Why? Ok. Ill stop. I said again This
just isnt right. Tiya is my best friend. I had
lunch with Geetan today.

He smiled again and just for a moment I

thought I had appealed to his better sense. I
turned away from him, desperately waiting
for the door to open (there are only three
floors in Block 7 (G, 1 and 2), we were
between floors). Within seconds of my
turning around, he started to lift up my
dress. He lifted it all the way up and said
Youre unbelievable. The door opened on
the second floor, on Mr De Niros floor and
he said again The universe is telling us
something to which I said Im taking the
stairs and started to walk out. He pulled me
back in, sensing that I was on the verge of
hysteria by this point, he was totally
comfortable physically manhandling me, but
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sensing my sheer panic, he did not touch me

until the lift reached the ground floor. Right
as the doors were about to open, he patted
my behind once more.

I walked out of the lift, went to the Grand

Club and immediately informed Ishan Tankha
that Mr Tejpal had tried to molest me again.
Ishan said Again? What the fuck is wrong
with him? He was completely disgusted and
said once more that we should just resign
immediately. As I was to accompany Mr De
Niro to the dining area, I somehow composed
myself. Mr De Niro was mobbed by fans and
I had to take him away from the main garden
to the Capiz Bar. I was sitting at the Capiz Bar
with Mr De Niro and his daughter when
TiyaTejpal came there to join us.

This was the first time the two of us had

really met since the incident of the previous
night. Since I had moved to Mumbai about a
year and a half ago, Tiya had grown to
become one of my closest friends. She lives
across the road from my house in Mumbai
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and barely a day had passed when the two of

us did not meet or talk to each other
constantly. She was sitting beside me, and
Mr De Niro was absorbed in conversation
with his daughter. I could not keep something
of this magnitude from her. I told her she
would hate me for what I was telling her but
that Mr Tejpal had tried to molest me on
these two separate occasions. I said He
tried to shove his tongue down my throat and
then took my panties off, when Tiya replied
saying I saw him do this to a woman when I
was thirteen, so it doesnt surprise me
anymore, but she was clearly disgusted.

Tiya left the Capiz Bar right after this. In half

an hour, Mr De Niro and Drena asked to be
dropped back to their room. They were
extremely upset at the days events because
Mr De Niro had all but been assaulted by fans
at the dinner table, and they asked me to
convey this to Mr Tejpal. When I came down
from Block 7, I found Mr Tejpal sitting at a
table with several people and called him
away from the table, but still in full view of
everyone, so I could relay Mr De Niros
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message privately.

I said Bob is really upset about tonight, he

got mobbed really badly.. to which Mr Tejpal
replied I dont give a fuck about Bob. How
could you tell Tiya what happened? I said
Tarun, I told you Tiya and I are close and
what you did wasnt okay, I had to tell her,
to which he said Shes my daughter. Do you
even understand what the word means? Just
get away from me, Im so fucking pissed off
with you right now.

I left from the spot crying, found Tiya outside

her room in the main performance area and
asked her what she had said to her father.
She said There was no other way. As soon as
you told me I wished you hadnt, but you
cant tell me what to say to him I told him
to keep it in his pants. I said Im probably
going to lose my job over this, she agreed,
but also said Itll be a bad phase but itll
pass. On this night as well, I left the Grand
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Hyatt and went to my hotel, found Shougat

Dasgupta, Ishan Tankha and G Vishnu and
told them what had happened. I also called
my boyfriend and told him that Mr Tejpal was
aware of the fact that I wasnt staying quiet,
and that he was extremely angry that I had
told his daughter. The next morning, I called
my mother and told her everything that had
happened. Everyone was most worried for my
safety and advised me to leave Think as soon
as possible however since my days work
involved me staying away from the Grand
Hyatt and staying at a completely different
part of Goa for the day with Mr De Niro and
his daughter, I felt temporarily safe. At this
time MrTejpal sent me the following texts
from his personal number.

1. I hope you told Tiya that it was just

drunken banter, and nothing else

To which I replied I told her we were both

drunk because it was true that everyone
had had a few drinks on the first night. But
not the second, when he assaulted me
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minutes after I had reached the Grand Hyatt.

However, this was the first time Mr Tejpal had
said anything to me after lashing out at me
the previous night, and I was still very afraid
of him.

He then sent me a second message:

2. And just banter, nothing else to which I

did not reply, because there was no way what
he had done to me could have been
described as banter.

Sensing that I had clammed up at his attempt

to sugar-coat what really happened, he sent
me a third message:

3. Why?? Whats happened??

I did not reply to this message. Within

minutes, he sent me a fourth message, one
that convinced me he saw absolutely nothing
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wrong with what he had done, and was in

fact now trying to shame me for talking to
Tiya:

4. I cant believe u went and mentioned

even the smallest thing to her. What an
absence of any understanding of a parent
child relationship.

After this message, I made sure to stay away

from Mr Tejpal except when we were in
extremely public situations only such as the
Speakers Green Room at the Hyatt, or the
lobby of the hotel. That evening as well, I
steered completely clear of him. He made no
mention of anything that had occurred the
next day, and the only thought on my mind
was to get Mr De Niro on his plane and leave
Think. I had to speak to MrTejpal several
times on Sunday the 9th of November to
coordinate Mr De Niros travel plans, but in
these calls he made no mention of anything
that had occurred. Once I dropped Mr De Niro
to the Goa Airport at 4.30 pm, I had no
further contact with Mr Tejpal.
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However, on 16.11.2013, Mr Tejpal messaged

me a number of times

1.Have you spoken to Tee? Is she Ok?

To which I replied: Why would she be ok

about the fact that you sexually assaulted
her best friend, that is me?

2.Whats with saying this awful stuff??

To which I replied: Do not send me any

messages. You are lying and you know that.

3.Oh is that so? I cherished you like one of

my best kids always, all these years; and
because of one drunken banter you so easily
say these awful things.

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To which I replied: It was twice Tarun, not

once and it was no banter. You did the most
horrible things to me and I certainly was not
drunk. I asked you to stop repeatedly.

4.Oh so thats what you told Tee. No wonder

shes so madly upset. Its ok. Am not going to
contest anything with her. Will let time and
my love heal what it can.

5.Dont think Ive been more saddened in

the longest time

I have no doubt that Mr Tejpal was trying to

establish his innocence in a devious manner.
If he needed to get in touch with his
daughter, he could have done so anytime he
desired, through his wife or daughter or
nephew or anyone from his family without
messaging me about her, or falsely claiming
that all that happened was a drunken
banter. This was no banter, it was most
clearly sexual assault. As a reporter for
Tehelka who writes on violence against
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women, I suddenly find myself in the horrific

situation of discovering what it is like to be
on the receiving end of this violence from a
powerful man I once deeply admired and
respected. I truly hope that the idea of
Tehelka is still intact and that you will
conduct an inquiry into this matter at the
earliest.
Reality views by sm
Friday, November 22, 2013
Tags Tarun Tejpal Rape Case Sex Assault Case

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