Supplementary chargesheet filed in sexual assault case against Tarun Tejpal

The Goa police on Wednesday submitted a supplementary report, which names ten more witnesses it wants to examine in the trial of former Tehelka magazine editor Tarun Tejpal, to the District and Additional Sessions court trying the case.

Tejpal is facing trial in a November 2013 case in which a woman had accused him of sexually assaulting her inside a lift at a five-star hotel in Goa during an event. Tejpal, who was arrested on November 30, 2013, is now on bail and has denied the allegations.

The police’s 19-page supplementary report comes six years after the chargesheet was filed. According to the supplementary report, the witnesses have said that the red stop/reset button in the elevators of the hotel, used for stopping the elevator in motion, was deactivated after the incident in the hotel elevator in 2013.

The trial court had framed charges against Tejpal under IPC sections 341 (wrongful restraint); 342 (wrongful confinement); 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty); 354A (sexual harassment); 354B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe); 376 (2)(f) (person in position of authority over women, committing rape) and 376(2)(k) (rape by person in position of control).

Goa police had cited 155 witnesses in its 2014 chargesheet.