Bollywood filmmaker Farooqui gets 7 yrs jail for raping American woman

August 4, 2016

New Delhi, Aug 4: Bollywood film 'Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqui was today sentenced to seven years imprisonment by a Delhi court for raping a US researcher here last year.

filmAdditional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain awarded the minimum jail term prescribed for the offence to Farooqui, who was produced in the court in custody.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 50,000 on the 44-year-old filmmaker and said the amount be given to the victim, failing which he would have to undergo an additional imprisonment of three months.

It also tasked the Delhi Legal Service Authority to decide appropriate compensation for the woman.

The court had on July 30 held him guilty of raping the American woman last year at his house in a drunken state.

During the arguments on sentence earlier, Delhi Police had sought life imprisonment for the filmmaker, saying the crime perpetrated on the foreigner has brought "disrepute" to India.

Farooqui's counsel Nitya Ramakrishnan had said as the filmmaker suffered from bipolar disorder and has fully cooperated in the case he should be given a chance to reform.

Seeking stringent punishment for Farooqui, complainant's counsel Vrinda Grover had said, "The foreigner (victim) was here for research work but was raped by a person she knew, who was her friend and whom she had trusted".

Farooqui, who was out on bail, was taken into custody immediately after his conviction in the case.

Prosecutor Mohammed Ikrar had earlier said that the woman, in her complaint, had alleged that Farooqui was drunk when he raped her at his house where she had gone to seek his help for her research work in March last year.

The police had on June 19, 2015, lodged the FIR against Farooqui on the woman's complaint after which he was arrested.

The police had on July 29 last year filed a charge sheet against Farooqui, alleging he had raped the research scholar from Columbia University at his Sukhdev Vihar house in south Delhi on March 28 last year.

The court had on September 9, 2015, started the trial in the case after framing rape charge against Farooqui and the victim, based in the US, had appeared in the court on September 14, 2015 to record her statement.

The woman had, during the in-camera proceedings, alleged that Farooqui had raped her and later apologised to her in several e-mails exchanged between them.

Later, however, Farooqui had denied the allegations against him, saying he was falsely implicated by the woman.

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News Network
July 23,2020

Mumbai, Jul 23: Mumbai Police will soon issue summons to actor Kangana Ranaut to record her statement in connection with the case related to the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, officials said on Thursday.

A day after Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide, Kangana Ranaut had released a two-minute video speaking highly of the deceased actor and accusing certain sections of the film industry of not acknowledging the star's talent.

She had also said that some of the last social media posts by the actor made it evident that he was struggling to survive in the industry.

According to the police, statements of 39 people, including film critic Rajeev Masand, director-producer Sanjay Leela Bhansali, and filmmaker Aditya Chopra have been recorded in the investigation so far.

The Mumbai Police had recently said the statements of three psychiatrists and one psychotherapist have been recorded in connection with the suicide investigation.

Rajput was found dead in his Mumbai residence on June 14.

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News Network
April 10,2020

New Delhi, Apr 10: Actor Akshay Kumar has pledged to contribute Rs 3 crore to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to assist the making of personal protection equipment, masks and rapid testing kits to help the battle against COVID-19.

Film critic and movie trade analyst Taran Adarsh announced on the same on Twitter on Friday and wrote, "After donating Rs25 crores to the PM CARES fund, Akshay Kumar contributes Rs3 crores to BMC to assist in the making of PPE, masks and rapid testing kits."

The 'Good Newwz' actor has been informing people about the necessary precautions to be taken to stay safe amid the coronavirus outbreak through his social media handles. On Thursday, Akshay acknowledged the contribution of all essential workers during the lockdown period, and encouraged people to use the hashtag 'Dil Se Thank You' to express their gratitude to the people "who work to ensure our safety."

Earlier, the 'Mission Mangal' actor joined hands with actors including, Kartik Aaryan, Tiger Shroff, Taapsee Pannu, Kiara Advani and launched a hope anthem - 'Muskurayega India,' and made an attempt to pump up Indians with positivity amid the testing times of coronavirus.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday informed that India's total number of COVID-19 positive cases now stands at 6,412.

Out of the total cases, 5,709 are active patients and 504 of them have been cured/discharged and migrated. With 30 new deaths reported in the last 12 hours, the death toll reached 199, according to the ministry.

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News Network
January 30,2020

Mumbai, Jan 30: A day after a woman filed a complaint against Ganesh Acharya alleging that he had forced her to watch pornography, actor Tanushree Dutta said Bollywood should boycott the choreographer.

A 33-year-old woman, an assistant choreographer, has written to the National Commission for Women (NCW) alleging that Acharya used to make her watch porn videos whenever she visited his office in suburban Andheri.

She also alleged that Acharya and two women assaulted her during a function of the Indian Film and Television Choreographers Association (IFTCA) held in suburban Andheri on Sunday. A complaint has been filed in this regard with Amboli police.

"It's time Bollywood and the other Indian film industries boycott choreographer Ganesh Acharya completely. Hiding behind the male superstars who work with this despicable man, he has been abusing his power and position to harass, bully and take advantage of vulnerable young newcomers to the industry," Dutta said in a statement here.

Dutta had alleged that her co-star Nana Patekar harassed and misbehaved with her while shooting for a song for their 2008 film "Horn Ok Pleasss", and Acharya, who was the choreographer, introduced new steps which were "intimate".

Recalling the trauma she faced, Tanushree said even though Acharya was party to all the harassment she faced on the 'Horn ok Pleasss" set, he went on to spoil her name and reputation.

"Nobody had any regard for me and how much I had suffered psychologically and financially because of the turmoil I went though due to these people. I left the industry because I was so scared and hurt over the atrocious treatment meted out to me on 'Horn ok Pleasss' set.

"I had worked very sincerely to get to where I got in life and so went in shock for many years, over the whole episode on that set almost 12 years ago, that led to an attack on my car. They didn't just break my car, they broke my spirit that day," Dutta said, in reference to the attack on her car in 2008.

She expressed her displeasure over how "leading men" and "heroes" of Bollywood continued working with Acharya, whose most recent work includes "Simmba", "Zero", "Sanju" among others.

"Even after all the information of fraud, non payment of dues, sexual harassment of dancers, bullying and intimidation and even physical abuse of dancers is coming out about Ganesh Acharya in the media, if the actors, directors and producers still work with him, it would mean that they themselves are engaging in such acts also.

"It's a warning to the film industry to stay the hell away from Ganesh Acharya otherwise your own reputation will be joined to his character. I'm sure many more girls and boys will come out about his misbehaviour and shady business, opening floodgates in the future," she added.

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