Bollywood filmmaker Mahmood Farooqui has been convicted of rape charges by a special fast track court on Saturday. The court will pronounce the quantum of sentence on August 2.
Allegedly, Farooqui, the co-director of Peepli(Live), Mahmood Farooqui, raped a 35-year-old American woman at his residence in Delhi in March 2015. She was in Varanasi to do research for her doctoral thesis from Columbia University. She was introduced to Farooqui by her friend.
After the rape incident, the woman returned to the US and wrote an email to Farooqui who apologised for “misbehaving” with her. Later, she returned to India and filed a formal complaint on June 19. “The woman alleged that Farooqui got drunk at a party and took her to a separate room where he forced himself on her,” an officer told Hindustan Times.
However, Farooqui denied the allegations, saying that he was falsely implicated in the case. He also accused the victim of having a “disturbed mind”. The offence of rape entails a minimum of seven years rigorous jail and a maximum of imprisonment for life.
Farooqui, along with his wife Anusha Rizvi, directed Peepli Live in 2010. The film, a black comedy that took on the media industry in the country, was produced by Aamir Khan.
Recommended
- On June 22, 2015, Farooqui was arrested on charges of sexual assault.
- On August 20, the director moved for bail.
- On September 9 last year, the court commenced the trial after framing charges of rape under Section 376 of Indian Penal Code against Farooqui.
- The director was granted regular bail for his “good conduct” on January 26, 2016. He had earlier been given interim bail.
- On July 30, the directed was convicted of the rape case. The court will convene on August 2 to finalise the quantum of the sentence.
Image courtesy: IndianExpress