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When Anusha Rizvi wrote the script of her directorial debut Peepli (Live), little did she know that her film will make reasons for both the good and the bad. The good news was in the form of a fact that Peepli (Live) had got the pride and prestige of being India’s official entry for the 83rd Academy Awards’ ‘Best Foreign Film category’, even though the film did not bring home the prestigious Oscar.
And, the bad news was in the form of the film’s co-director Mahmood Farooqui being found guilty of rape charges and was sentenced to seven years in jail. Post that, Mahmood Farooqui tried to prove his innocence and challenged the verdict in the Delhi high court.
The latest update on the Mahmood Farooqui case is that, he has now been acquitted and cleared of rape charges by the High Court, which has now quelled the rape charges against him and gave a benefit of doubt to the 44-year-old film-maker.
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For the uninitiated, Mahmood Farooqui, who happened to be the co-director of Peepli (Live), was pronounced guilty of raping a US citizen. The decision was announced by a Sessions Court in the year 2016. The police department of Delhi had lodged an FIR against Mahmood Farooqui on June 19, 2015. This was done based on the complaint of the woman, who happened to be an American citizen of India descent.
Post the complaint lodged by the woman, Mahmood Farooqui got arrested. The charge sheet had allegedly stated that Mahmood Farooqui had raped the woman at his house which was based in Sukhdev Vihar in South Delhi. The said woman happened to be Columbia University’s research scholar. The date on the incident was recorded as March 28, 2015.
Post which, the trial session began on September 9, 2015 and the woman appeared in the court on September 14 to record her statement.
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