Shoma Chaudhury denies slander charge

Shoma Chaudhury, the managing editor of Tehelka, on Wednesday claimed that she was not involved in any attempt to intimidate the journalist, who accused the magazine’s founder editor Tarun Tejpal of sexually assaulting her.

“I strongly reject the allegations in the media that I am involved in any manner with any slander, intimidation or character assassination of the complainant journalist. This is a malicious campaign that has no basis in truth,” Chaudhury said in a statement posted on the micro-blogging website Twitter.

The complainant had accused both Tejpal and Chaudhury of resorting to “tactics of intimidation, character assassination and slander” to cover-up the alleged assault on her.

“Over the past years, we have collectively defended the rights of women, written about custodial rape, sexual molestation at the workplace, spoken out harshly against the culture of victim blame and the tactical emotional intimidation and character assassination of those who dare to speak out against sexual violence,” she wrote in her resignation letter to Chaudhury on Monday.

“At a time when I find myself victim to such a crime, I am shattered to find the Editor-in-Chief of Tehelka, and you – in your capacity as Managing Editor – resorting to precisely these tactics of intimidation, character assassination and slander,” she added.

The journalist, who accused the magazine’s editor of sexually assaulting her twice earlier this month, wrote that she had been deeply traumatised by the lack of support offered by the organisation. “In such circumstances,” she wrote, “it is untenable for me to continue to work for this organisation.”

She also objected to the use of the term “an untoward incident” to describe the incidents in the email that Chaudhury had sent to journalists of the magazine appending another email from Tejpal.

“In the public acknowledgement sent to the bureau, Tejpal and you referred to his act of sexual violation as ‘an untoward incident’ – this was not an attempt to ‘protect the institution’ but in fact, an attempt to cover up what had really occurred – the act of sexual molestation, an admission of the facts that Mr Tejpal had ‘attempted sexual liaison’ with me (to quote his email) on two occasions despite my ‘reluctance to receive such attention’,” she wrote to Chaudhury.