SC upholds Mahmood Farooqui's acquittal in rape case
January 19, 2018 12:30
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the acquittal of Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui in a rape case.
The SC dismissed the plea of the woman, a US citizen, against Farooquis acquittal by the Delhi high court in September 2017.
The Delhi HC had aside the trial court order awarding Farooqui seven years jail term for allegedly raping a US researcher. The court directed that Farooqui, who is presently in jail, be released forthwith.
The HC raised doubts over the veracity of the incident and the complaint and took note of the fact 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 court made some controversial observations and said that the womans no may have in fact meant a yes. Instances of woman behaviour are not unknown that a feeble no may mean a yes, the court said.
On July 30, 2016, a fast track court had held Farooqui guilty of rape and had stated that the statement of the victim was of "sterling quality" with no embellishments or improvements. The fast-track court also concluded that the testimony of the victim was truthful and supports the conviction of the accused.
The woman, a student at the Columbia University in New York, had told the police that she was raped by Farooqui at his Sukhdev Vihar residence in Delhi on March 28, 2015.
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