Court convicts film director Mahmood Farooqui of raping US researcher

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Saturday convicted 'Peepli Live' co-director Mahmood Farooqui of raping a 30-year-old US researcher last year. Farooqui, who was out on bail, was taken into custody immediately after the pronouncement of the judgement. Additional Sessions Judge Sanjiv Jain held Farooqui guilty of offence under section 376 (punishment of rape) of the IPC. The court fixed the matter for hearing arguments on sentence on August 2. The offence of rape entails a minimum of seven years rigorous jail and a maximum of imprisonment for life. The woman, in her complaint, had alleged that Farooqui was drunk when he raped her at his house where she had gone to get his help for her research work last year. The police had on June 19, 2015, lodged the FIR against Farooqui on the woman's complaint after which he was arrested. Police had on July 29 last year filed a charge sheet against Farooqui alleging that he had raped the research scholar from Colombia 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.