The Editors Guild of India and other forums of journalists today described the alleged sexual assault by 'Tehelka' editor Tarun Tejpal against a woman journalist of his magazine as "extremely serious" and asserted that the full force of the law must be brought in to the investigation and prosecution of the incident.
In a statement, Editors' Guild of India President N Ravi said that there ought not to be any attempt to cover up or play down this "extremely serious incident".
"Self-proclaimed atonement and recusal for a period are hardly the remedies for what the allegations show to be outright criminality. The full force of the law must be brought into its investigation and prosecution. Due regard must be paid to the sensitivity and privacy of the victim who has already been put to grievous suffering," it said.
Tejpal had in a communication to the Managing Editor of Tehelka Shoma Chaudhary, accepted his "misconduct" against the woman journalist and offered to recuse himself from the post and the office for six months.
Ravi said that allegations of sexual assault made by the journalist are "on the face of it shocking and shameful."
"Such incidents anywhere are condemnable in the strongest terms but the Guild is particularly saddened that they should engulf a media organisation", he added.
He said that it is emphatically the philosophy of the Guild that the media, that is in the business of holding public persons accountable, should itself be held to the highest standards of conduct and decency.
"The conduct that has been alleged would constitute grave sexual assault at the very least, taking advantage of the authority and power of the perpetrator within the media organisation," the statement added.
It also brings out vulnerability of young women journalists who need to be protected and free to pursue their careers without the fear of being subjected to such assaults, it said.
The Delhi Union of Journalists (DUJ) and its Gender and Ethics Councils also strongly condemned the alleged incident.
"Tarun Tejpal's statement admitting a 'lapse of judgement' and his self-declared sabbatical from editorship both confirm the allegation. It is clear that he stands in breach of the law," DUJ said in a statement.
