It is integrity v/s wealth, influence and privilege

TEHELKA BRAVE HEART TAKES ON TEJPAL

The former Tehelka journalist, who has accused founder-editor Tarun Tejpal of rape, on Friday, urged political parties to refrain from politicizing the issue.

"I call upon our political parties to resist the temptation to turn a very impor- tant discussion about gender, power and violence into a conversation about themselves," she said in a statement here.

She said she was "deeply concerned" and "very disturbed" about suggestions that her complaint against Tejpal was a part of "a preelection political conspiracy". "I categorically refute such insinuations," she said in her statement posted on Kafila.org.

Taking the Tehelka founder-editor headlong, she also asserted that what Tejpal did to her "falls within the legal definition of rape". '' While he was fighting to protect his wealth, influence and privilege, for her it was a fight to preserve nothing except her integrity and her right to assert that her body is her own and not the plaything of her employer,'' the two-page statement says.

The victim also termed her case as a litmus test of the new anti-rape law. "Now that we have a new law that broadens the definition of

Tarun Tejpal, accused of sexual assault of a woman colleague, on Friday questioned the legitimacy of the FIR and subsequent probe in the case and lashed out at the media accusing it of ‘screaming and shouting’ all the time.

“... There is no complaint officially. An inter nal mail from the office decides a suo motu FIR?” he told a news channel.

Indicating a political conspiracy in the entire episode, Tejpal said, “It is being monitored on an hour-to-hour basis by some people in Delhi”.

The former Tehelka Editor, who has been under sharp criticism from various quarters ever since the incident came to light around a week ago, said, “... And the media is just screaming and shouting all the time”.

When the reporter, who shot the conversation in the airport's lounge on a hidden camera, asked him about his views, Tejpal said, "My views are pretty clear, there are many issues embedded here..."

Tejpal left Delhi by a 2.30 PM flight, accompanied by his wife Geetan Batra, other family members and lawyers. He landed in Panaji around 5 PM where district and sessions judge Anuja Prabhudesai gave him the reprieve till tomorrow morning.