Managing Editor of Newsmagazine Resigns Amid Sexual Assault Controversy NEW DELHI - The managing editor of the newsmagazine Tehelka, whose editor in chief has been charged in the sexual assault of a junior reporter, resigned Thursday morning in an email to the staff, citing the growing controversy over her handling of the initial complaint. As managing editor of Tehelka, Shoma Chaudhury had been criticized for her delay in setting up an independent committee to look into the matter immediately after a reporter accused Tarun Tejpal, Tehelka's editor in chief, of assaulting her at Mr. Tejpal's annual cultural festival in Goa in early November. The complainant, who resigned from Tehelka on Monday, wrote in her resignation letter that Ms. Chaudhury was responsible for trying to cover up the alleged assault. In an interview with Times Now TV, Ms. Chaudhury called the allegation of a cover-up a lie. In her own resignation letter on Thursday, which was leaked to the Indian media, Ms. Chaudhury defended her actions. "Since the devastating allegation was first brought to my notice on 18th November, I have taken a series of actions in response to this complaint," she wrote. To my mind, I acted on instant outrage and solidarity for our colleague as a woman and co-worker. "I do not want questions raised about my integrity to tarnish the image of Tehelka, which it has done in the past week," she continued. The woman who reported the sexual assault was unreachable on Thursday, and Ms. Chaudhury did not respond to continued calls for comment. Repeated calls to the magazine's offices went unanswered. Since Mr. Tejpal, the editor in chief of Tehelka, stepped aside on Nov. 20 for six months over what he called a "bad lapse of judgment" in an email to Ms. Chaudhury, there has been intense media scrutiny of Tehelka, known for its dogged pursuit of political corruption. The Goa police have filed a First Information Report on Mr. Tejpal, charging him with rape, among other crimes. Mr. Tejpal has denied the charges. At least one investor, the Trinamool Congress member K.D. Singh, publicly divested himself of his majority stake in the ownership of Tehelka, according to a report in The Indian Express. "I think Shoma had no choice but to resign given that things have spiraled out of control," said Shougat Dasgupta, the literary editor at Tehelka, who gave his resignation on Monday, effective in one month, in response to the newsmagazine's handling of the complaint. One Tehelka staffer said Ms. Chaudhury's resignation was a step in the right direction for the newsmagazine. "The steps that should have been taken have been taken now, and it's unfair to punish the institution for an act of few individuals," said Sudeep Chaudhuri, the design editor, who submitted his resignation a month ago but said he will stay on if Tehelka needs him. Shoma's stand has affected us gravely, and I think this will correct the course of action. This in some way redeems the institution. With the departure of Mr. Tejpal and Ms. Chaudhury, the future of the newsmagazine appears to be in question, as no one has been appointed to replace either of them. "There is a vacuum of leadership," Mr. Dasgupta said. There is no management structure as such. There's no obvious choice to take over from Shoma on the masthead. Nida Najar is a freelance journalist based in New Delhi.