New Delhi: Award-winning writer Arundhati Roy has, in a column in Outlook magazine, written about the case of alleged rape that has engulfed the news magazine Tehelka and its founder, Tarun Tejpal.
"Outrageously, it is being suggested that Tarun is being 'framed' for political reasons - presumably by the Right-wing Hindutva brigade. So now a young woman who he very recently saw fit to employ, is not just a loose woman, but an agent of the fascists? This is Rape Number Two: the rape of the values and the politics that Tehelka claims it stands for, and an affront to those who work there and who have supported it in the past." (Read Arundhati Roy's column in Outlook here)
Ms Roy writes, "What has happened now has not shocked me, but it has broken my heart." Mr Tejpal has been accused by the Goa police of raping a younger woman colleague earlier this month at the magazine's high-profile annual conference "Think-Fest".
He suggested on Friday that the attempted "sexual liaison" was consensual, a charge the journalist has firmly rejected.
In an earlier written apology to her, Mr Tejpal, who is 50, said, he regretted the "shameful lapse of judgement that led me to attempt a sexual liaison with you on two occasions... despite your clear reluctance that you did not want such attention from me."
Ms Roy writes in Outlook that Mr Tejpal was a partner in India Ink, which first published her novel, The God of Small Things. However, she said they later grew apart.
"Outrageously, it is being suggested that Tarun is being 'framed' for political reasons - presumably by the Right-wing Hindutva brigade. So now a young woman who he very recently saw fit to employ, is not just a loose woman, but an agent of the fascists? This is Rape Number Two: the rape of the values and the politics that Tehelka claims it stands for, and an affront to those who work there and who have supported it in the past." (Read Arundhati Roy's column in Outlook here)
He suggested on Friday that the attempted "sexual liaison" was consensual, a charge the journalist has firmly rejected.
Advertisement
Ms Roy writes in Outlook that Mr Tejpal was a partner in India Ink, which first published her novel, The God of Small Things. However, she said they later grew apart.
Advertisement
COMMENTS
Advertisement
Journalist Tarun Tejpal To Publish Apology For Defamatory Article Against Top Army Officer Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka Asked To Pay Rs 2 Crore To Army Officer In Defamation Case Supreme Court Drops Contempt Case Against Prashant Bhushan, Tarun Tejpal Barack Obama Wants Joe Biden To Pull Out Of US Presidential Race: Report World's Largest Isolated Tribe Makes Rare Appearance In New Footage 32 Dead In Bangladesh Unrest, Protesters Set Fire To State TV Headquarters Comedy Legend Bob Newhart Dead At 94: Publicist Israeli Strike Kills Field Commander In Elite Hezbollah Unit: Report Delhi-San Francisco Air India Flight Diverted To Russia After Engine Glitch Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.