'Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqui gets 7 yrs jail for rape
Finally, the court verdict has come and the ‘Peepli Live’ co-director Mahmood Farooqui gets seven years jail sentence for raping an America native, who came to India for research work last year. On July 30, 2016 Mr Farooqui was found guilty in raping the American scholar. Mahmood Farooqui, who was present in the court and was out on bail was immediately taken into custody after the verdict.
He was given minimum jail sentence for the offence by Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain. The court has imposed surety of Rs 50,000 to Mr. Mahmood which will be given to the victim and on failing he had to spend additional three months in jail.
Court also asked Delhi Legal Service Authority to decide appropriate compensation for the woman.
During the arguments Delhi Police had sought for life time imprisonment for Mahmood Farooqui, claiming that the crime has brought "disrepute" to India.
To save her client and to minimise the jail term Mr
Farooqui's counsel Nitya Ramakrishnan claimed that filmmaker suffered from
bipolar disorder and has fully cooperated in the case he should be given a
chance to reform.
Seeking severe punishment for Mr Farooqui, the complainant's counsel Vrinda
Grover argued, "The foreigner was here for research work but was raped by
a person she knew, who was her friend and whom she had trusted".
The incident dates back to 2015. The victim was in India related to her Phd
work when the incident took place. The incident took place at Farooqui’s
resident in south Delhi’s Sukhdev Vihar on March 28.
According to the victim’s statement, Farooqui was under the influence of
alcohol when he raped her after a party.
"An American national woman was raped by the co-director of the film 'Peepli Live'. The incident took place on March 28, 2015, and a report in this connection was registered with the New Friends Colony police on June 19, 2015," a Delhi Police official told IANS.
"The accused Mahmood Farooqui has been arrested and was presented before Saket court. The court has sent him into judicial custody till July 6," added the official.
However, Mahmood Farooqui’s wife Anusha Rizvi, who also co-directed ‘Peepli Live’ with her husband, claimed the allegation “manipulated and false”.
