Police seeks life imprisonment for Farooqui.
AB Wire
A court in New Delhi reserved its order for Thursday for pronouncing the quantum of punishment for Mahmood Farooqui, the acclaimed director, for raping an American research student last year.
According to the prosecution, Farooqui, the co-director of the 2010 film ‘Peepli Live’ raped a 35-year-old research student from Columbia University who was in India as part of her studies. He was convicted on July 30.
The court, while reserving the date for pronouncing the punishment, said that the crime committed by the convict has disgraced the image of India in front of the world.
The Delhi police sought maximum punishment of life imprisonment for the convict under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
“The foreigner (victim) was here for research work but was raped by a person she knew, who was her friend and whom she had trusted. The court must keep in mind that there was an additional vulnerability of the woman in a foreign country and it brings disrepute to our country, besides traumatizing the victim,” the victims counsel Vrinda Grover said during the argument.
But, the counsel of Farooqui said that the director suffered from bipolar disorder and was not a habitual offender. Taking into account his cooperation in the case, he be given a chance to reform.
“Does the law put any foreigner woman on a pedestal higher than an Indian? This fact is irrelevant and makes a mockery of thousands of Indian women who suffer,” Farooqui’s counsel Nitya Ramakrishnan said.
However, the victim’s counsel maintained that the director was a prominent figure and therefore he had an additional responsibility not to commit such a heinous crime.
“It is a crime which has been held heinous by the apex court and we press for the maximum sentence and fine,” Grover said.
The incident happened on March 28, 2015. The woman who has alleged rape is a student of Columbia University and was pursuing her Ph.D. in Hindi studies. She came to India for fieldwork and Farooqui was helping her in her research.
According to the statement given by the woman, Farooqui called her to his home to attend a wedding party. When the scholar reached the house she found him under the influence of alcohol and he was crying. He asked her to go to his office room and later made advancements and forced himself on her.
Farooqui and the victim first met through a common friend and he later helped her to collect relevant materials regarding her research.
The woman scholar first approached the US embassy, which later informed the Delhi police about the complaint and asked for an immediate inquiry.
The police filed a First Information Report (FIR) on June 19, 2015, after arresting the director. On July 29, 2015, the police filed a charge sheet against Farooqui alleging that the director raped the woman at his house.
Farooqui, however, has denied all the allegations and maintained that the case was falsely implicated.