Tarun Tejpal being taken for a medical examination
Tarun Tejpal, the founder of Tehelka, has been arrested on charges of raping a junior colleague after a court in Goa rejected his anticipatory bail plea. Mr Tejpal was arrested from the Goa crime branch office in Dona Paula shortly after 9 pm, where he had been camping for almost five hours. (
LIVE updates here)
He was taken to the Goa Medical College for a medical check-up after which he was taken into custody. Mr Tejpal will today be produced in court, where the duration of his remand with the police will be decided.
"The statement of the victim and the documents in the form of emails etc., details of which need not be reproduced here, prima facie indicate that the applicant, who was her mentor and father figure, had not only outraged her modesty but had misused his position, betrayed her trust and violated her body," Judge Anuja Prabhudesai observed in her 25-page order. (
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The judge has allowed Mr Tejpal to take the assistance of his lawyer briefly once a day during his interrogation. He will also be allowed to have home-cooked food.
Earlier in the day, Mr Tejpal had offered to submit his passport in court to avoid arrest. He was present in court, along with his wife and daughter.
"Mr Tejpal is ready to stay in Goa till the time it was required by the investigating agency," his lawyer had said.
The public prosecutor however argued that prima facie a case is established against the Tehelka founder, saying his "immaculate reputation had gone for a toss and being in custody will not dent it any further." They said the woman journalist has been consistent with her version, but Mr Tejpal has been "changing colours like a chameleon." (
Read: What the prosecution said on Tarun Tejpal's bail plea)
Mr Tejpal is accused of raping the reporter at an annual Tehelka conference in Goa earlier this month. She did not press charges, but detailed her allegations against him to her boss at Tehelka, Shoma Chaudhury, in an email that was leaked. She resigned last week. (
Read: full text of resignation letter here)
The Goa Police used that email to commence its investigation against Mr Tejpal.