A Delhi court today sentenced Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui to seven years in jail for raping an American woman.
He was also fined Rs 50,000.
The court had on July 30 held Farooqui guilty of raping the American woman last year at his house in a drunken state. The court reserved its verdict on quantum of sentence for August 4.
Farooqui, who was out on bail, was taken into custody immediately after his conviction in the case. The Delhi police sought maximum punishment of life imprisonment for the film maker. The offence of rape entailed a minimum of seven years rigorous jail and a maximum of imprisonment for life.
A 30-year-old American researcher from Columbia University who came to India for her thesis claimed a drunk Farooqui had raped her at his house in Sukhdev Vihar in south Delhi on March 28 when she had gone to him for help with her research.
The woman had first met Farooqui in Varanasi where she had gone in connection with her research on Baba Gorakhnath. In her complaint to Delhi Police, she had alleged that Farooqui had raped her when she had gone to meet him subsequently for help on her research.
During the trial that began on September 9, the woman alleged that after raping her, Farooqui had apologised in several emails that he wrote to her. The email exchanges and call detail records were key pieces of corroborative evidence presented by the prosecution during the trial, besides the testimony of the complainant.
Delhi Police arrested Farooqui last year after the woman complained.
On June 29, a police filed a charge sheet against the filmmaker.
