‘Peepli Live’ director Farooqui acquitted by Delhi HC in rape case

On Monday, the Delhi High Court acquitted Mahmood Farooqui, co-director of the critically acclaimed movie ‘Peepli Live’ which had released in 2010. He was accused of raping a US researcher. Earlier, he was awarded 7 years imprisonment by a trial court last year.

Now, Justice Ashutosh Kumar set aside the order of the trial court which sentenced him to seven years of imprisonment. Farooqui had earlier challenged the trial court order in the high court stating that he is not guilty and innocent. The court gave its judgment and stated that Farooqui be released from Tihar Jail.

For the uninitiated, here’s the story. Farooqui was accused of raping a US researcher from Columbia University who had been to India to complete her thesis. She got in touch with Farooqui through a common friend in June 2014 as she was looking out for contacts for her work in Gorakhpur. The rumoured incident took place on March 28, 2015 when Farooqui had called her for dinner at his residence. (Also Read: Anusha Rizvi to appeal in High Court against Mahmood Farooqui’s conviction)

The police chargesheet suggests that when the woman reached his house at 9 pm, she found out that he is very intoxicated and he then asked her to go to the other room which was his office. The chargesheet further stated that after 20 minutes, he called her and told her to sit inside the office room. After interacting with her for sometime, he suddenly kissed her and forced himself on her which scared the woman completely. During the trial, the US researcher stood firmly by her complaint and accused him of raping her, whereas he denied the allegations and claimed that he was framed wrongly.

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

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