 "Tehelka sexual assault scandal: 'Tarun Tejpal', 'Shoma' trend on Twitter")
A shocked Twitter is up in arms after it emerged that Tehelka’s editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal has stepped down from the magazine for a period of six months after allegedly sexually assaulting a female member of his staff. on a reporter in Tehelka. [caption id=“attachment_1241511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tarun Tejpal. AFP image[/caption] Both ‘Tarun Tejpal’ and ‘Shoma’ are trending in India, with tweeters discussing the email sent out to employees by Tehelka editor Shoma Choudhary, as well as criticising the email sent by Tejpal, where he seems to reduce his actions to a “lapse in judgement”. Firstpost received an email which was sent out by managing editor Shoma Chaudhury to the employees of Tehelka informing them that Tejpal was “recusing himself as the editor of Tehelka for the next six months”. (Quote from the mail.) Shoma’s email also said Tejpal had rendered an “unconditional apology to the colleague involved”. Tejpal also wrote a letter to Shoma Chaudhury in which he said that, “A bad lapse of judgment, an awful misreading of the situation, have led to an unfortunate incident that rails against all we believe in and fight for. I have already unconditionally apologised for my misconduct to the concerned journalist, but I feel impelled to atone further.” He said that he was stepping down for six months as part of he “must do the penance that lacerates me”. (Quote from email.) However the charges appear to be more serious than just “a bad lapse of judgement”. An email that was sent by the victim who is a reporter with Tehelka to the managing editor however says that what Tejpal did was not a bad lapse of judgment but a case of serious sexual assault. She says that Tejpal tried to disrobe her and extensively groped her twice during the recently concluded Think festival in Goa. Here are some of the tweets:
Lyricist Javed Akhtar however, has sprung to what seems to be a defense of Tejpal.
Other tweeters seemed aghast and enraged at Akhtar’s reaction, and Akhtar’s son, Farhan Akhtar, has also attacked Tejpal.
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Editor Shoma Chaudhary has also come in for flak, with some saying that her accompanying email seems to defend Tejpal’s actions.
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