Goa police records victim`s statement: As it happened

Zee Media Bureau/Biplob Ghosal/Neha Attre 6:35 pm: Victim stayed out late at night, claims Tarun Tejpal Calling the encounter between them as "light hearted bantering", Tarun Tejpal today said that the victim stayed out late into the night during ThinkFest. He further said that the young journalist was friendly and normal. Tejpal also emphasises that the victim continued to party. 5:40 pm: Immigration checkpost alert issued against Tarun Tejpal Goa Police today issued an immigration checkpost alert against Tarun Tejpal that stops him from leaving the country. 2:00 pm: Tehelka Mumbai office locked Tehelka magazine’s Mumbai office has been found locked with even stickers of the company hidden. The woman scribe, who has accused Tejpal of molesting her twice used to work in the Mumbai office. 1:30 pm: Goa Police records victim’s statement Goa Police officials today recoded statement of the woman journalist, who has accused Tehelka ex-editor Tarun Tejpal of sexually molesting her in a hotel in Goa. Most probably the woman might now travel to Goa to record her statement before the magistrate. Earlier, the woman had told an investigating officer from Goa that she had delayed in filing a case against Tejpal as "he was a high profile person." 12:35 pm: Congress protecting Tarun Tejpal: BJP Commenting on the sexual assault case filed against Tarun Tejpal, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader VK Malhotra accused Congress of protecting the ex-editor of Tehelka. Malhotra said that Congress is maintaining double standards in the case and said that Tehelka’s ex-editor should be behind bars like controversial godman Asaram. 12:20 pm: `Shoma Chaudhury is equally culpable` Goa State Commission for Women Vidya Shet today held Tehelka managing editor Shoma Chaudhury equally culpable as she tried to cover up the facts in the alleged sexual assault case involving Tarun Tejpal. Seth urged Goa Police to immediately arrest Tarun Tejpal and Chaudhury. 12:10 pm: Senior editor of Tehelka resigns As Delhi High Court today refused to grant interim protection against arrest to Tarun Tejpal’s bail, senior editor of Tehelka Rana Ayyub resigned. 12:01 pm: Tarun Tejpal slams Goa CM Tarun Tejpal today said that the FIR filed against him is "politically motivated" and accused Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar of taking undue interest in the case. Commenting on Urvashi Butalia refusing to become a member of Tehelka’s probe committee set up to look into the charges of sexual assault, Tejpal said that the group is trying to persuade the approached people to reconsider and remain committed to having such a committee to investigate matter. Tejpal further said that many of the people Tehelka had approached, wish to rescue themselves from the Enquiry Committee. 11:50 am: HC refuses to grant Tejpal interim protection from arrest Delhi High Court refuses to grant interim protection against arrest to Tehelka’s ex-editor Tarun Tejpal’s bail, defers hearing till tomorrow. Justice Sunita Gupta also asked the counsel for the Goa police to file its reply, if any, and fixed the hearing of Tejpal`s anticipatory bail plea for hearing tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Delhi police also opposed the plea for grant of any transit bail to Tejpal who termed the FIR as politically motivated alleging that the Goa chief minister was taking undue interest in the matter. "I am opposing the matter due to the seriousness of the allegations against the accused," the counsel for the Goa police said, adding that he has not been supplied with the copy of the petition by the accused journalist. Also Read: HC refuses to grant Tarun Tejpal interim protection from arrest 11:20 am: `Woman journalist willing to record statement` The Tehelka journalist, who had accused its editor Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her, has shown willingness to travel to Goa and record her statement before the authorities, a senior police official said on Tuesday. The woman, who was contacted by investigating officer Sunita Sawant over phone yesterday, has shown willingness to co-operate, a senior official said on condition of anonymity. "If the woman travels to Goa, her statement would be recorded before the magistrate under IPC Section 164 (recording of confessions and statements)," the official said. 10:00 am: Goa Police in Mumbai Goa Police today reached Mumbai to record the statement of the young woman journalist who levelled a sexual assault allegation against Tejpal. 9:30 am: `Victim was normal after the incident` Tarun Tejpal in his bail plea has said that the woman journalist, who has levelled sexual assault charges against him, was completely normal and partied whole night after the alleged incident. The plea filed by Tejpal also questions the woman scribe’s conduct and terms the first incident which took place on November 7 as "light-hearted banter". Below are the details of the petition - That on 07/11/2013, while the said event was still on, the Applicant had a meeting with one of his female colleagues. It is pertinent to note here that the said encounter was only light-hearted bantering which lead to a moment of privacy between the two individuals. The nature of the said meeting can well be established by bare perusal of the CCTV footage of Hotel Hyatt, Goa, which is within the knowledge and reach of Goa Police but the same has been blatantly ignored by the Investigating Agency for which the Applicant is asking for a copy. That on 08/11/2013 a further meeting took place between the two individuals but the same lasted for few seconds and no intimate moment was shared between the two individuals. That subsequent to the aforementioned meeting, the Applicant did not have any further interaction with the above mentioned female colleague/. The alleged colleague referred above, continued to party and was completely normal and friendly all throughout her stay in Goa. She went to the Remo Fernandez function which began around 7:30/8:00 pm and which lasted into the late evening. The lady continued to attend, participate in the conference / festival with élan. She took part in the evening festivals of which there will be CCTV coverage, photographs another documents to substantiate that all was normal and n occurrence as alleged took place. 9:00 am: HC to hear Tejpal’s bail plea The Delhi High Court will today hear the bail plea of Tejpal, who is accused of sexually assaulting a junior colleague at a resort in Goa earlier this month. Tejpal`s lawyers Geeta Luthra and Pramod Dubey mentioned Tejpal`s bail plea before Justice GS Sistani on Monday. 8:30 am: Butalia refuses to become member of Tehelka’s probe panel Author and publisher Urvashi Butalia is not on the committee Tehelka was planning to set up to probe the Tarun Tejpal case, tweeted Zubaan Books Tuesday. Urvashi Butalia is the director of Zubaan Books. "Zubaan would like to clarify that our director Urvashi Butalia is not on the committee Tehelka was planning to set up in line with the Vishakha Guidelines, nor on any other committee related to the Tejpal case," Zubaan Books stated.

Zubaan would like to clarify that our director Urvashi Butalia is not on the committee Tehelka was planning to set up in line with [...]

— Zubaan Books (@ZubaanBooks) November 26, 2013

[...] Urvashi wrote to @ShomaChaudhury saying any such committee that was planned was redundant now that due process under the law had begun— Zubaan Books (@ZubaanBooks) November 26, 2013

What victim said in her resignation letter

I was sexually molested by Tarun Tejpal on two occasions, the 7th and 8th of November 2013 at the annual Think festival in Goa this year. In the emails of apology that followed my complaint to you about Mr Tejpal’s grievous sexual misconduct, he admitted to the fact, and apologised unconditionally.

I requested, at the very least, for Mr Tejpal to acknowledge this apology publicly to the staff and bureau of Tehelka. While I did not want this acknowledgement to have graphic details, I asked that the words “sexual misconduct” be included. In a phone conversation with me, you asked that he be recused from doing so because he had already admitted to sexual molestation in his emails, and because we needed to “protect the institution”. In this conversation, I said, “I trust you to do the right thing”. Victim, 2 Tehelka employees resign The sexual assault victim and two other employees, also witnesses in the case against Tehelka, resigned on yesterday. Sources said the victim from Mumbai sent her resignation letter through e-mail to managing editor Shoma Chaudhury. The two witnesses Shougat Dasgupta and Ishan Tankha, questioned by the Goa Police on Sunday at Goa Sadan have also put in their papers. NCW seeks response from Mumbai Police The National Commission for Women (NCW) sought a response from the Mumbai Police on steps it has taken for her security in the wake of her statement that she was being pressurised by Tejpal`s family to "protect" him. Goa Deputy Inspector General of Police OP Mishra said in Panaji that the investigating officer in the case had contacted the woman but refused to divulge details, claiming police wanted to protect her privacy. `Tejpal sexually assaulted me twice’ The young Tehelka journalist, in her complaint to Chaudhury, said Tejpal sexually assaulted her twice in the Goa`s Club House section elevator of the five-star Grand Hyatt resort during the news magazine`s high-profile ThinkFest conference earlier this month. The matter came to light after intra-office communication between Tejpal, Chaudhury and the woman was leaked to the media last week. Chaudhury too has been accused of trying to hush up the matter. Tejpal, in a statement released Friday, requested investigators to "examine and release the CCTV footage so the accurate version of events stands clearly revealed".