New Delhi: Peepli Live co-director, Mahmood Farooqui on Monday was acquitted by the Delhi High Court in a rape case. He was sentenced to seven years in jail by a trial court for allegedly raping a US researcher.
The High court raised doubts over the veracity of the incident and the complaint and took a note that there was delay by the victim in filing the FIR. The court also questioned if there was consent or not. It also raised the question on whether the accused understood that there was no consent.
The local court, on July 30, 2016, had found Farooqui guilty of raping a US research scholar from Columbia University at Sukhdev Vihar house in South Delhi on March 28, 2015, in a drunken state.
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An FIR was registered against the 45-year filmmaker on June 19, 2015, after a complaint was filed by the victim. A charge sheet was filed by the police on July 29, 2016, against Farooqui alleging he had raped the US researcher. The bench announced its judgement on August 4 and had sentenced him seven years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 50000.
Farooqui had challenged his conviction and the judgment given by the trial court. During the hearing of arguments in court, Farooqui’s lawyer said that “no such incident took place on that day”. He further presented messages between his client and the complainant before the lodging of the case and contended that the two were in a “relationship” since January 2015.
Farooqui had directed ‘Peepli Live’ with his wife, Anusha Rizvi. The film was released in 2010.