MUMBAI(National Times)- An Indian court sentenced former news magazine editor Tarun Tejpal to 10 years in prison on Thursday after convicting him of raping a junior colleague, in a case that drew nationwide attention.

Tejpal, co-founder of investigative magazine Tehelka, was accused of raping the journalist in the lift of a five-star hotel in the western coastal state of Goa during an event in November 2013.

In 2021, a trial court in Goa acquitted Tejpal of the charges of rape, sexual harassment and wrongful restraint. The acquittal was challenged by the Goa government before the Bombay High Court, which set aside the trial court’s verdict and sentenced him to 10 years in jail on Thursday.

“He has been convicted to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment. He has been given two weeks’ time to surrender,” Goa Police investigator Sunita Sawant, who led the probe against Tejpal, told reporters.

The court also ordered him to pay a fine of $5,250, Sawant added. Tejpal, 63, said he would challenge the conviction in the Supreme Court.

“For the past 13 years, they have been pursuing me as a part of a political vendetta,” he told reporters.