Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad protest outside Tehelka magazine office

Demanding immediate arrest of founder-editor of Tehelka Magazine Tarun Tejpal over his alleged involvement in a sexual assault case, members of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) on Friday held a protest outside the magazine's office here.

"Tarun Tejpal should be immediately arrested and saying this that I am 'recusing' from the post for six months and apologising is not fair. He should be punished by the court of law as per the norms," said ABVP Vice President Mamta Tripathi.

The protesting group also demanded Managing Editor Shoma Chaudhury's resignation for her alleged role in playing down the issue and not taking action on her own.

"We are demanding that she should also resign as her role has been very dubious. She has tried to settle the dispute internally, which is not right. She should have gone to the police and taken action herself," Sanket Bahuguna, General Secretary, ABVP, said.

"This is not a common case of harassment. A female journalist, an empowered woman has been harassed by her boss. When an empowered woman is being harassed, one could imagine what would be the case with other women.

"This is a serious case and everyone who has tried to play down this issue should also be brought under the scanner," said Tripathi leading the protest.

Bahuguna added that "outside pressure" has kept the woman journalist from lodging an FIR in the case and demanded that the National Commission for Women should take suo motu cognizance of the incident.