Tejpal is escorted by police as he arrives at the high court for his bail hearing in Panaji.
AFP/Panaji
A leading editor charged with raping a colleague insisted yesterday he was innocent, after a court deferred his plea for bail in the case which has dominated the media.
Tarun Tejpal, the founder and editor of top investigative magazine Tehelka, has been in custody since his arrest in late November over the alleged incident in a hotel lift in Goa.
On Monday Tejpal was charged with a series of offences including sexual harassment, outraging modesty and rape, in one of the highest-profile cases since India toughened its rape laws last year.
“The charge-sheet against me is out of political vendetta. I am innocent,” the 50-year-old told reporters outside the court in Panaji, after his bail hearing was deferred until March 4 and he was taken back into custody.
“The truth is in the CCTV footage and it will be known to the world,” he said, dressed in a white kurta for his court appearance, at which his family members were also present.
The woman, who has quit the magazine since the scandal broke and who cannot be named for legal reasons, has told police she was molested twice in the lift during a magazine-sponsored event in the state.
The case made front-page news in India for days, at a time when sexual assault was under the spotlight following the fatal gang-rape of a student in Delhi in December 2012, which sparked widespread protests.
