Peepli Live director Mahmood Farooqui arrested on rape charges: All that we know so far

A 35-year-old American student from Columbia University has alleged that Peepli Live co-director Mahmood Farooqui raped her after inviting her to a party to his Delhi residence on 26 March this year. The police registered an FIR charging Farooqui with rape (section 376 IPC) at the New Friends’ Colony police station in New Delhi on 19 June and the artiste was arrested from his home on Saturday night. “The accused Mahmood Farooqui has been arrested and was presented before Saket court. The court has sent him into judicial custody till 6 July,” an official was quoted as saying by the IANS. [caption id=“attachment_2306074” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  Mahmood Farooqui with wife Anusha Rizvi. AFP[/caption] Farooqui is married to director and screenwriter Anusha Rizvi, who directed the 2010 satirical comedy Peepli Live. A noted name in social and literary circles, Farooqui was the writer and co-director of the film produced by Aamir Khan. Anusha in a statement claimed that the complaint was “manipulated, false and belated.” “A complaint has been registered against Mahmood Farooqui. The moment he heard about it he presented himself at the concerned police station. He was thereafter taken into custody. The complaint is manipulated and false. We don’t want to make any further comments on the matter because the case is under investigation. We will wait for the court’s decision where the actual truth of the matter will come out. In the meanwhile we are thankful for the show of support from friends, colleagues and well-wishers. We are determined to fight this till the reality is presented before the people. We are very sure of it.” According to a report in The Indian Express, the incident happened on 26 March this year. Farooqui had invited the woman to his Sukhdev Vihar home. When she arrived at Farooqui’s house, there were only two other people apart from Farooqui. They soon left, the woman said and added that Farooqui was considerably drunk. A Times of India report quoted the woman as saying in her complaint that Farooqui was allegedly crying and he kissed her while she was standing on the porch. He then sexually assaulted her inside the house, the victim reportedly said in her statement. The woman told the police that she had left without saying anything because she was scared, but later on sent an email to Farooqui saying how violated she felt after the incident. According to the woman, Farooqui replied to the mail saying he was drunk, apologized for the incident and allegedly even wanted to resolve the situation amicably. She also claimed that his wife knew about the incident and had promised her justice. According to The Indian Express, there were a few mails exchanged between Rizvi and Farooqui after which she left for the US. And three months after the incident, the woman returned to India and approached the US Embassy who informed the Delhi police. Farooqui has denied sending any mails to the woman. The Delhi police have sent the communication produced by the complainant for forensic analysis.