Days after the former Editor-in-chief of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal was convicted by the Bombay High Court (HC) in a rape case dating back to 2013, his daughter Cara Tejpal has publicly defended him, alleging he was targeted because of the magazine’s style of investigative journalism and its reportage on corruption.
Cara said on Saturday that she was prepared to face criticism for standing in solidarity with her father, including being branded a ‘rape apologist’ or the ‘child of a rapist.’ She added that the case was used as a means to silence Tejpal, whom she termed a prominent critic of those in power.
Cara Tejpal
“Have examined evidence for 13 yrs”: Cara
Cara went on to say she had followed and examined the evidence in the case for 13 years and that she remained convinced of her father's innocence. She asserted, “I’m not that 23-year-old anymore. I’m 36 and I couldn’t care less about being called a ‘rape apologist’ or ‘child of rapist’ or whatever vile slur is used against me.”
She added that she was 23 when her father was picked up by the cops and 31 when he was acquitted by the trial court. Now, at the age of 36, she said she continued to stand by him after he was convicted in the case by the Bombay HC.
Tarun Tejpal
Cara further alleged that the case was influenced by a wider public narrative that discouraged people from questioning the allegations. She said initially she had been ‘terrified of speaking the truth’ because of the intense media coverage surrounding the case.
News agency PTI quoted her as saying, “Tarun Tejpal was more than a thorn in the side of the BJP government, and what better way to silence him than to portray him as the most reviled of all sinners; a rapist.”
Thereafter, she urged people to examine what she called the ‘actual facts of the case’ instead of relying solely on headlines and what she termed ‘uninformed public discourse.’
Bombay HC overturns acquittal
Notably, on Thursday, the Goa Bench of the Bombay HC overturned Tejpal’s acquittal granted in 2022 by a trial court and sentenced him to 10 years of jail term on charges of allegedly raping a junior colleague during the ThinkFest conference at a five-star hotel in Goa in 2013.
A bench of the HC, comprising Justice Neela Gokhale and Amit Jamsandekar observed that the trial court’s appreciation of the evidence was unreasonable and perverse. It said the evaluation of the complainant’s testimony suffered from serious flaws, including reliance on preconceived notions about how an ‘ideal victim’ should physically resist or emotionally respond.
Along with the jail term, the HC slapped a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Tejpal under relevant provisions of the law, besides additional sentences and fines under provisions pertaining to outraging a woman’s modesty, sexual harassment, disrobing, wrongful restraint and wrongful confinement.
Meanwhile, Cara said she would continue to speak despite the criticism, asserting, “The truth is always the truth. No court, no Prime Minister, no Godi media can take that from us.”