Bollywood director Mahmood Farooqui convicted of rape.
Bollywood director Mahmood Farooqui co-directed the 2010 movie Peepli Live. According to reports, Farooqui faces a minimum seven year prison sentence and a maximum life term. The court is slated to hear arguments on Tuesday before pronouncing his sentence.
This news first hit the Internet after a student from Columbia University, filed a complaint which led to his arrest. He was later released on bail as the case went to trial in September.
It’s important to point out that this is the first time someone was convicted for rape after a 2013 amendment made forced oral sex a crime. “This is perhaps one of the first cases of forced oral sex, which shows two things: that there was a crime for which we did not earlier have an offense named, now it has been recognized as rape. We’re also very happy to see that the court relied on very credible evidence that the woman gave.”
According to reports, Danish Hussain, a long time friend of the director, introduced the young woman to Farooqui. Hussain said the victim immediately contacted him after she was assaulted by Farooqui, who feared for her life.
Farooqui is expected to appeal the verdicted and the case could go to a higher court. “Our fight for justice is by no means over,” his wife Anusha Rizvi told the Hindustan Times. “We will approach the High Court for justice that has been denied to us.”
Farooqui became famous after the release of Peepli Live, which premiered six years ago. The movie centered around a poor farmer’s struggle to pay his loans, highlighting India’s painful issue of farmer suicides.
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