Delhi HC acquits Mahmood Farooqui in rape case

The Delhi high court has acquitted Mahmood Farooqui in a 2015 rape case. The director was earlier awarded with seven years of imprisonment in Tihar jail by a lower court on 30 July 2016, for allegedly raping a US based research scholar. Farooqui had challenged the decision in the high court.

According to reports by ANI news agency, Justice Ashutosh Kumar of Delhi high court raised questions on the accuracy of the complaint filed by the 35-year old woman.

The high court bench gave Farooqui the benefit of doubt, and questioned the reality of the incident. During the arguments, the defense counsel for Farooqui emphasized that 'no such incident had taken place on that day.' The counsel also worked to prove that the victim's version was contradictory to the evidence presented.

The woman, a student of Columbia University in New York, had accused Farooqui of raping her at his Sukhdev Vihar residence on 28 March 2015. Farooqui was reportedly helping her with research work.

Farooqui co-directed the critically acclaimed 2010 film Peepli (Live) with his wife, Anusha Rizvi.