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),
- Shaheen Ahmed, research scholar, New Delhi
- Sameera Khan, journalist, Mumbai
- Supriya Sharma, journalist, Mumbai/Raipur
- Rohini Mohan, journalist, Bangalore
- Chinki Sinha, journalist, New Delhi
- Shazia Nigar, journalist, New Delhi
- Neha Dixit, journalist, New Delhi
- Supriya Nair, journalist, New Delhi
- Tusha Mittal, journalist, Kolkata
- Shriya Mohan, journalist, Kolkata
- Sohini Chattopadhyay, journalist, New Delhi
- Trisha Gupta, journalist, New Delhi
- Raghu Karnad, journalist, Bangalore
- Arindam Banerjee, Prime Minister’s Rural Dev Fellow, Midnapore
- Anand Vijayasimha, creative writer/musician, Bangalore
- Vinay Aravind, photographer, Chennai
- Shone SB, journalist, Delhi
- Anand Sankar, Photojournalist, Dehradun
- Sonal Shah, journalist, New Delhi
- Raheel Khursheed, Director Communications, India, Change.org
- Tracy Shilshi, Journalist, New Delhi
- Clement Hnunpuia, Graphic Designer, New Delhi
- Subasri Krishnan, Film-maker, New Delhi
- Anjali Doshi, Journalist, Mumbai
- Ayeshea Perera, Journalist, Mumbai
- Niranjani Iyer, New Delhi
- Javed Iqbal, journalist, Mumbai
- gurpreet tathgur,mumbai
- Seemi Pasha, journalist, New Delhi
- Aditi Saxton, journalist, New Delhi
- Adnan Farooqui, Academic, New Delh
- Cyril Sam, Journalist, New Delhi
- Jency Jacob, Journalist, Mumbai
- Rohit De, academic, New Delhi
- Pradeep Nayak, Advocate, Bangalore
- Atul Chaurasia, Journalist, N Delhi
- Subha Wijesiriwardena, theatre-artist/writer, Sri Lanka
- Raj Imran, Consulting research, Mumbai
- Subir Ghosh, journalist, Bangalore
- Harsha Vadlamani, Photojournalist, Hyderabad
- Sushmit Sarkar, Journalist, New Delhi
- Laxmi Murthy, Journalist, Bangalore
- Pracheta Sharma, Video Journalist, New Delhi
- Andrea Fernandes, Mumbai
- DVL Padma Priya, freelance journalist, Hyderabad
- Poulomi Basu, Photojournalist, London and New Delhi
- Anumeha Yadav, Journalist, Jharkhand
- Sulakshana Nandi, social activist, Chhattisgarh
- Sejal Mehta, Journalist, Mumbai
- Pracheta Sharma, Journalist, Mumbai
- M Rajshekhar, Journalist, New Delhi
- Sreenivasan Jain, Journalist, New Delhi
- Sarika Jain, academic, Chandigarh
- Praveen S, Filmmaker, Bangalore
- Aniket Alam, executive editor, economic and political weekly
- Serena Peck, New Delhi
- Sudhanshu Malhotra, Photo Editor, Greenpeace, India
- Ammu Joseph, Independent Journalist, Bangalore
- Aaron Pereira, Journalist, Mumbai
- Sayantan Bera, Journalist, Kolkata
- Snigdha Poonam, Delhi
- Antoine Lewis, Journalist, Mumbai
- Padmalatha Ravi, Independent Journalist and Documentary filmmaker.
- Rupa Chinai, independent journalist, Mumbai.
- Sridevi Sarma, Consulting - Research, Chennai
- Sunainaa Chadha, Journalist, Mumbai
- Shikha Malaviya, Poet & writer
- B.R.P. Bhaskar,Thiruvananthapuram
- Swarna Rajagopalan, Chennai
- Prayaag Akbar, Journalist, Mumbai
- Satarupa Sen Bhattacharya, Associate Editor, Oorvani Media, Bangalore
- Meena Menon Journalist
- Nazir Ahamed, The Hindu, Chennai
- Anil Mishra Journalist Raipur
- Anju Narayanan, London
- Dave Besseling, Features Editor, GQ India, Bombay.
- Nithila Kanagasabai, Chennai
- Annalisa Merelli, writer, New York
- Bonojit Hussain, Activist and Researcher, New Delhi
- Manjula Narayan, Hindustan Times, New Delhi
- Shivam Vij, Delhi
- Indulekha Aravind, journalist, Bangalore
- Amirtharaj Stephen, Photographer, Bangalore
- Sharda Ugra, journalist, Delhi
- Geeta Seshu, Journalist, Mumbai
- Girish NIkam, Journalist, Delhi
- M J Pandey, Journalist, Mumbai
- Rashmi Drolia, Journalist, Raipur
- Poorva Rajaram, Journalist, Bangalore
- Amit Kumar, Journalist, Delhi
- Sukumar Muralidharan, Journalist, Delhi
- Jyotsna Singh, journalist, Delhi
- Nida Ansari, social worker, New Delhi
- Amrapali Basumatary, academic, New Delhi
- Soibam Haripriya, Research Scholar, New Delhi
- Subhadeepta Ray, Research Scholar, New Delhi
- Apoorva Gautam, Research Scholar, New Delhi
- KumKum Dasgupta, Journalist, Hindustan Times, Delhi
- Padmaparna Ghosh, Journalist, New Delhi
- Isha Manchanda, Writer, New Delhi
- Shilpa Ranade, architect, Mumbai
- Prakash Venkatesan, Researcher
- C Vanaja, journalist and film maker, hyderabad
- Sania Hashmi, Film-maker, Delhi
- Sanam Husain ,Engineer,Delhi
- Aditi Jha, Researcher, Delhi
- Kalpana Sharma, Journalist, Mumbai
- Nilim Dutta, Executive Director, Strategic Research & Analysis Organisation, New Delhi/Guwahati
- Debanjan Bose, Journalist, Pune
- Anoo Bhuyan, NPR, Delhi
- Sarah Hashmi, Actor, Mumbai
- Moggallan Bharti, Asst. Professor, Delhi University, Delhi
- Manoj Mitta, Jounalist, New Delhi
- Balaji Kannan, Researcher, USA
- Anjali Mody, Journalist, New Delhi
- Tulika Rungta, Advertising professional, Kolkata
- Amitava Kumar, Writer and journalist, New York
- Kavita Krishnan, AIPWA
- Aijaz Nazir, Journalist, Jammu and Kashmir
- Geetha Nambisan, feminist, management professional
- Abhishek kaushik, TOI Raipur
- Bijoyeta Das
- Joydeep Gupta, Journalist, New Delhi
- Nivriti Butalia, Dubai
- Ruchira Hoon, Islamabad
- Mohan Kumawat, Film Maker, Delhi.
- Kannan V, Kozhikode
- Chhandak Pradhan, Journalist/Photographer, Calcutta
- Vidyut, Blogger at aamjanata.com Virar, Maharashtra.
- Nelson Vinod Moses, Editor, SocialStory
- Zara Khan, Journalist, The Hindu, Chennai
- Srinivas Aditya Mopidevi, Writer and Researcher, Delhi
- Venkat Ananth, Freelance Journalist, Mumbai/Delhi
- Abhijit Phatak, Pune
- Nandini Nair, journalist, Delhi
- Pragya Tiwari, Mumbai/Delhi
- Adnan Abidi,
- Shivi Bhalla
- Angarika Guha, Student, Delhi
- kala ramnathan Mumbai
- Mahananda Bohidar, Journalist, Chennai
- Nikhil Varma, Journalist, Bangalore
- Sonal Dhama, Designer, New Delhi
- Dipanwita Das, Communications Strategist, Washington DC
- KR Guruprasad, journalist, Mumbai
- Bipin Aspatwar, Lawyer, New Delhi
- Ravinder Kaur, Academic, New Delhi
- Rohan Kathpalia, journalist, New Delhi
- Simran Bhalla, academic, New Delhi/Chicago
- Meghna Chandra, student, New Delhi
- Savitha V, Singapore
- Rohini Mathew, Mumbai
- Sharmila Joshi, Journalist, Mumbai
- Arushi Singh, Research Scholar, New Delhi
- Virginia Saldnaha, Mumbai
- Nikhil Kumar, PR professional, New Delhi
- Dilip D’Souza, Bombay
- Saba Azad, Musician, Mumbai
- Baba Umar, Journalist, Kashmir/ Qatar
- Ashwini Mishra, Musician, Bombay
- Mandakini Malla, TV Producer, New Delhi
- Priyanka Bhattacharya Dutt, Journalist, Dubai
- Putul Gupta, Research Associate, Delhi
- Natasha Kaushal, Writer, Delhi
- Eklavya Gupte, Journalist, London/Mumbai
- Anuj Sharma, Bangalore
- Lubna Kably, Journalist, Mumbai
- Anirban Dutta, Film maker, delhi
- Amit Kumar Mishra, Marketing Consultant, Bhubaneswar, Odisha
- Anthony D’Costa, Journalist, Mumb.
- Pallabi Munsi, Journalist, Mumbai
- Shubhankar Adhikari, senior copy editor, the Hindustan Times, New Delhi
- Ragu Devaraj, Bangalore
- Uttam Sengupta, New Delhi
- Kavin Malar, Journalist, Chennai
- Harish Iyer, Equal Rights Activist, THiNK2013 speaker
- Nigel Britto, law student/journalist, Panjim, Goa
- Krishna Prasad, Editor - Outlook, New Delhi
- Shilpa Phadke, Academic, Mumbai
- Mohini Freya Dutta, Narrative Strategist
- Aayush Soni, Journalist, New Delhi
- Vani Doraisamy, Journalist, Indian Express, New York
- Vidura Jang Bahadur, Photographer
- Kunal Majumder, Journalist, New Delhi