Protect privacy of Tehelka journalist

This is in continuation of the original petition with nearly 200 signatures

Some websites and blogs are posting the Tehelka journalist's complaint to the magazine's management or reproducing parts of it, perhaps with intent to expose a grave act of sexual assault by a man occupying a powerful position. However, in doing so, they are violating basic ethical and legal injunctions on the way cases of sexual assault must be reported. It is also illegal as detailed in Section 228A of the Indian Penal Code.

The journalist’s complaint to her company is a private document and not a public one. While private documents can be leaked in the 'public interest', this principle is applicable to the emails of Tarun Tejpal and Shoma Chaudhury sent to Tehelka staffers, not to the journalist’s emailed complaint. In cases of sexual assault, it is a well established principle that the media can name the perpetrator, but not the victim. The identity and privacy of a victim must be protected at all costs.

We are distressed that many people are circulating the journalist’s emails, and other journalists, bloggers and users of social media are publishing it in parts or whole.

Some have argued that the leaked email has exposed the gravity of the assault, which justifies it coming into the public domain. While we are determined to report violence against women, we also believe in doing it sensitively. It is possible to report and comment on sexual crimes without providing explicit accounts that cause additional distress to the victim. While we stand behind the journalist in her courageous fight, let her choose how she wants her experience reported in public.

In the past week, the journalist has, through her friends, requested several times that her privacy and dignity be protected and that her personal email not be shared. Please remember that the woman's private email may be used only with her written consent.

We request all users of social and mainstream media to refrain from infringing on a woman's privacy. We request those who have posted such content to remove it immediately and stay within the confines of the law. Let us be sensitive as we extend support to the journalist.

Signed (CLOSED),

1. Shaheen Ahmed, research scholar, New Delhi
2. Sameera Khan, journalist, Mumbai
3. Supriya Sharma, journalist, Mumbai/Raipur
4. Rohini Mohan, journalist, Bangalore
5. Chinki Sinha, journalist, New Delhi
6. Shazia Nigar, journalist, New Delhi
7. Neha Dixit, journalist, New Delhi
8. Supriya Nair, journalist, New Delhi
9. Tusha Mittal, journalist, Kolkata
10. Shriya Mohan, journalist, Kolkata
11. Sohini Chattopadhyay, journalist, New Delhi
12. Trisha Gupta, journalist, New Delhi
13. Raghu Karnad, journalist, Bangalore
14. Arindam Banerjee, Prime Minister’s Rural Dev Fellow, Midnapore
15. Anand Vijayasimha, creative writer/musician, Bangalore
16. Vinay Aravind, photographer, Chennai
17. Shone SB, journalist, Delhi
18. Anand Sankar, Photojournalist, Dehradun
19. Sonal Shah, journalist, New Delhi
20. Raheel Khursheed, Director Communications, India, Change.org
21. Tracy Shilshi, Journalist, New Delhi
22. Clement Hnunpuia, Graphic Designer, New Delhi
23. Subasri Krishnan, Film-maker, New Delhi
24. Anjali Doshi, Journalist, Mumbai
25. Ayeshea Perera, Journalist, Mumbai
26. Niranjani Iyer, New Delhi
27. Javed Iqbal, journalist, Mumbai
28. gurpreet tathgur,mumbai
29. Seemi Pasha, journalist,  New Delhi
30. Aditi Saxton, journalist, New Delhi
31. Adnan Farooqui, Academic, New Delh
32. Cyril Sam, Journalist, New Delhi
33. Jency Jacob, Journalist, Mumbai
34. Rohit De, academic, New Delhi
35. Pradeep Nayak, Advocate, Bangalore
36. Atul Chaurasia, Journalist, N Delhi
37. Subha Wijesiriwardena, theatre-artist/writer, Sri Lanka
38. Raj Imran, Consulting research, Mumbai
39. Subir Ghosh, journalist, Bangalore
40. Harsha Vadlamani, Photojournalist, Hyderabad
41. Sushmit Sarkar, Journalist, New Delhi
42. Laxmi Murthy, Journalist, Bangalore
43. Pracheta Sharma, Video Journalist, New Delhi
44. Andrea Fernandes, Mumbai
45. DVL Padma Priya, freelance journalist, Hyderabad
46. Poulomi Basu, Photojournalist, London and New Delhi
47. Anumeha Yadav, Journalist, Jharkhand
48. Sulakshana Nandi, social activist, Chhattisgarh
49. Sejal Mehta, Journalist, Mumbai
50. Pracheta Sharma, Journalist, Mumbai
51. M Rajshekhar, Journalist, New Delhi
52. Sreenivasan Jain, Journalist, New Delhi
53. Sarika Jain, academic, Chandigarh
54. Praveen S, Filmmaker, Bangalore
55. Aniket Alam, executive editor, economic and political weekly
56. Serena Peck, New Delhi
57. Sudhanshu Malhotra, Photo Editor, Greenpeace, India
58. Ammu Joseph, Independent Journalist, Bangalore
59. Aaron Pereira, Journalist, Mumbai
60. Sayantan Bera, Journalist, Kolkata
61. Snigdha Poonam, Delhi
62. Antoine Lewis, Journalist, Mumbai
63. Padmalatha Ravi, Independent Journalist and Documentary filmmaker.
64. Rupa Chinai, independent journalist, Mumbai.
65. Sridevi Sarma, Consulting - Research, Chennai
66. Sunainaa Chadha, Journalist, Mumbai
67. Shikha Malaviya, Poet & writer
68. B.R.P. Bhaskar,Thiruvananthapuram
69. Swarna Rajagopalan, Chennai
70. Prayaag Akbar, Journalist, Mumbai
71. Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya, Associate Editor, Oorvani Media, Bangalore
72. Meena Menon Journalist
73. Nazir Ahamed, The Hindu, Chennai
74. Anil Mishra Journalist Raipur
75. Anju Narayanan, London
76. Dave Besseling, Features Editor, GQ India, Bombay.
77. Nithila Kanagasabai, Chennai
78. Annalisa Merelli, writer, New York
79. Bonojit Hussain, Activist and Researcher, New Delhi
80. Manjula Narayan, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
81. Shivam Vij, Delhi
82. Indulekha Aravind, journalist, Bangalore
83. Amirtharaj Stephen, Photographer, Bangalore
84. Sharda Ugra, journalist, Delhi
85. Geeta Seshu, Journalist, Mumbai
86. Girish NIkam, Journalist, Delhi
87. M J Pandey, Journalist, Mumbai
88. Rashmi Drolia, Journalist, Raipur
89. Poorva Rajaram, Journalist, Bangalore
90. Amit Kumar, Journalist, Delhi
91. Sukumar Muralidharan, Journalist, Delhi
92. Jyotsna Singh, journalist, Delhi
93. Nida Ansari, social worker, New Delhi
94. Amrapali Basumatary, academic, New Delhi
95. Soibam Haripriya, Research Scholar, New Delhi
96. Subhadeepta Ray, Research Scholar, New Delhi
97. Apoorva Gautam, Research Scholar, New Delhi
98. KumKum Dasgupta, Journalist, Hindustan Times, Delhi  
99. Padmaparna Ghosh, Journalist, New Delhi
100. Isha Manchanda, Writer, New Delhi
101. Shilpa Ranade, architect, Mumbai
102. Prakash Venkatesan, Researcher
103. C Vanaja, journalist and film maker, hyderabad
104. Sania Hashmi, Film-maker, Delhi
105. Sanam Husain ,Engineer,Delhi
106. Aditi Jha, Researcher, Delhi
107. Kalpana Sharma, Journalist, Mumbai
108. Nilim Dutta, Executive Director, Strategic Research & Analysis Organisation, New Delhi/Guwahati
109. Debanjan Bose, Journalist, Pune
110. Anoo Bhuyan, NPR, Delhi
111. Sarah Hashmi, Actor, Mumbai
112. Moggallan Bharti, Asst. Professor, Delhi University, Delhi
113. Manoj Mitta, Jounalist, New Delhi
114. Balaji Kannan, Researcher, USA
115. Anjali Mody, Journalist, New Delhi
116. Tulika Rungta, Advertising professional, Kolkata
117. Amitava Kumar, Writer and journalist, New York
118. Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA
119. Aijaz Nazir, Journalist, Jammu and Kashmir
120. Geetha Nambisan, feminist, management professional
121. Abhishek kaushik, TOI Raipur
122. Bijoyeta Das
123. Joydeep Gupta, Journalist, New Delhi
124. Nivriti Butalia, Dubai
125. Ruchira Hoon, Islamabad
126. Mohan Kumawat, Film Maker, Delhi.
127. Kannan V, Kozhikode
128. Chhandak Pradhan, Journalist/Photographer, Calcutta
129. Vidyut, Blogger at aamjanata.com Virar, Maharashtra.
130. Nelson Vinod Moses, Editor, SocialStory
131. Zara Khan, Journalist, The Hindu, Chennai
132. Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, Writer and Researcher, Delhi
133. Venkat Ananth, Freelance Journalist, Mumbai/Delhi
134. Abhijit Phatak, Pune
135. Nandini Nair, journalist, Delhi
136. Pragya Tiwari, Mumbai/Delhi
137. Adnan Abidi,
138. Shivi Bhalla
139. Angarika Guha, Student, Delhi
140. kala ramnathan  Mumbai
141. Mahananda Bohidar, Journalist, Chennai
142. Nikhil Varma, Journalist, Bangalore
143. Sonal Dhama, Designer, New Delhi
144. Dipanwita Das, Communications Strategist, Washington DC
145. KR Guruprasad, journalist, Mumbai
146. Bipin Aspatwar, Lawyer, New Delhi
147. Ravinder Kaur, Academic, New Delhi
148. Rohan Kathpalia, journalist, New Delhi
149. Simran Bhalla, academic, New Delhi/Chicago
150. Meghna Chandra, student, New Delhi
151. Savitha V, Singapore
152. Rohini Mathew, Mumbai
153. Sharmila Joshi, Journalist, Mumbai
154. Arushi Singh,  Research Scholar, New Delhi
155. Virginia Saldnaha, Mumbai
156. Nikhil Kumar, PR professional, New Delhi
157. Dilip D’Souza, Bombay
158. Saba Azad, Musician, Mumbai
159. Baba Umar, Journalist, Kashmir/ Qatar
160. Ashwini Mishra, Musician, Bombay
161. Mandakini Malla, TV Producer, New Delhi
162. Priyanka Bhattacharya Dutt, Journalist, Dubai
163. Putul Gupta, Research Associate, Delhi
164. Natasha Kaushal, Writer, Delhi
165. Eklavya Gupte, Journalist, London/Mumbai
166. Anuj Sharma, Bangalore
167. Lubna Kably, Journalist, Mumbai
168. Anirban Dutta, Film maker, delhi
169. Amit Kumar Mishra, Marketing Consultant, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
170. Anthony D’Costa, Journalist, Mumb.
171. Pallabi Munsi, Journalist, Mumbai
172. Shubhankar Adhikari, senior copy editor, the Hindustan Times, New Delhi
173. Ragu Devaraj, Bangalore
174. Uttam Sengupta, New Delhi
175. Kavin Malar, Journalist, Chennai
176. Harish Iyer, Equal Rights Activist, THiNK2013 speaker
177.  Nigel Britto, law student/journalist, Panjim, Goa
178. Krishna Prasad, Editor - Outlook, New Delhi
179. Shilpa Phadke, Academic, Mumbai
180. Mohini Freya Dutta, Narrative Strategist
181. Aayush Soni, Journalist, New Delhi
182. Vani Doraisamy, Journalist, Indian Express, New York
183. Vidura Jang Bahadur, Photographer
184. Kunal Majumder, Journalist, New Delhi