Chronicle of a collapse foretold

First there is this from Tarun Tejpal editorinchief of Tehelka magazine now in the dock after a young journalist accused him of sexual assault in a letter to Shoma Chaudhury managing editor of Tehelka ldquoA bad lapse of judgment an awful misreading of the situation have led to an unfortunate incident I have already unconditionally apologised for my misconduct to the concerned journalist but I feel impelled to atone further I must do the penance that lacerates merdquo Guilty as charged If Tejpal was indeed innocent as he claims there was no need for all that turgid prose about atonement and penance Then there is this a letter to the accuser who has since resigned ldquoIt wrenches me beyond describing I apologise unconditionally for the shameful lapse of judgement that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions on November 7 and November 8 2013 despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from merdquo And this is from Tejpalrsquos bail application ldquoThat on 07112013 the applicant had a meeting with one of his female colleagues It is pertinent to note here that the said encounter was only lighthearted bantering which lead to a moment of privacy between the two individuals ldquoApplicant was shocked The applicant categorically and immediately refuted each and every allegation Applicant denied the said allegation The managing editor refused to even listen to the applicantrsquos version and overrode him and the managing editor told the applicant that she was making the decision in Tehelkarsquos interest rdquo Herein lies the sad sad story of what happens when an intelligent man in a position of power and influence is accused of wrongdoing The atonement that was sought in the first letter made public has now become a forced document that he was prevailed upon to write by Chaudhury That is a grown man he is apparently 50 was forced to take responsibility by an employee for something which he now says he did not do to another employee The victimrsquos own complaint letter is very disturbing and suggests that what occurred was sexual assault not even sexual harassment let alone ldquolighthearted banterrdquo If Tejpal was indeed innocent as he claims where was the need for all that turgid prose about atonement and penance He could have claimed that the victim had misunderstood ldquolighthearted banterrdquo from day one Instead he painted himself as a martyr and then ran cravenly in the opposite direction the minute he caught sight of the cross he might have to carry After the Delhi gang rape of December 16 2012 there has been an outcry in India demanding stricter laws for violence against women and even the death penalty in extreme cases But not all those accused as we see here are necessarily bus cleaners and bus drivers They can be anyone especially people who are used to getting away with a particular kind of behaviour Preying upon women in the workplace is hardly new and in usually it is not even news Most women just put up with it and most work places do not even have a clue that there are Supreme Court guidelines about how to deal with sexual harassment Tehelka which has done extensive work on crimes against women does not have one Tejpal has also accused the BJP of being against him since Tehelka had long ago exposed its party president Bangaru Laxman and others taking bribes in a fake defence deal This is desperation in the extreme Goa may be a BJPrun state and the BJP could be internally thrilled at Tejpalrsquos downfall but the Goa police has only followed the new laws on rape The implication that the young woman accuser is a political pawn is even more horrifying and completely unsubstantiated Certainly Tejpal is entitled to a defence But there is something that speaks to the character of a man who goes from wanting to atone to making accusations within the space of week Or that is a man who changes his tactics when the road ahead starts to look rocky The victim has stood firm and not capitulated as was perhaps expected The penance that lacerates now comes back to bite There is a new lesson for women here stand your ground And invariably one for men too take a close look at what happens when you cross the lineu00a0 Ranjona Banerji is a senior journalist You can follow her on twitter ranjona