Filmmaker Mahmoud Farooqui’s rape conviction is unjust, says his wife Anusha Rizvi. The director says they will appeal the judgment.
A court in New Delhi on Thursday sentenced Farooqui to seven years in jail after finding him guilty of raping an American woman.
Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain also imposed a fine of Rs50,000 (Dh2,746) on the filmmaker, who was convicted on July 30 of raping the 35-year-old Columbia University student who was in India for research on her doctoral thesis.
Reacting to the judgment, Rizvi said in a statement posted on her Facebook: “Independent record makes the charge of ‘forced oral sex’ against Mahmoud Farooqui simply impossible. The conviction is unjust for it ignores irrefutable evidence on the most flimsy grounds.
“Indeed, it appears that the judge has given more than the benefit of the doubt to the prosecution but has expected the defence to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt. We shall appeal the judgment.”
She added: “Lives and reputations are irretrievably lost when there is denial of justice, but our fight for rightful exoneration continues. I firmly believe that we will secure justice in the High Court.”
The woman, who moved to Delhi in June 2014, was looking for contacts for her work in Gorakhpur and came in contact with Farooqui through a common friend. The incident occurred on March 28, 2015, when Farooqui invited her for dinner at his house.
According to the police report, the woman, who reached his house at 9pm, found Farooqui in an intoxicated state. He asked her to go to his office.
After 20 minutes, she left the office to smoke in the porch when he told her to come in and sit down. After talking with her for a while, he suddenly kissed her and forced himself on her, the prosecution said.
During the trial, the researcher stood by her complaint and alleged that Farooqui had raped her, while he denied the allegations and claimed he was falsely implicated.
Reflecting on the trial, Rizvi said: “The complainant is consummately discredited by independent call and cab company records which were presented in court. The defence team has adhered to all feminist principles during the trial and no aspersions on the complainant’s character were ever cast by the defence.
“The complainant and the prosecution argued that retribution is a public cry and that the nation would fall into disrepute if enhanced penalty was not awarded in a case where the complainant is a foreigner. Fortunately, the court has ignored this outrageous argument.”
Rizvi co-directed the critically acclaimed movie Peepli Live with her husband.
