Daijiworld Media Network - Entertainment

Mumbai, Jun 22: Co-director of the hugely hit movie Peepli Live, Mahmood Farooqui was arrested by the police for questioning in a complaint filed by a US based Indian student who has said that he allegedly raped her. He was then produced before the court before being jailed for a fortnight, as police looked into the allegations made against him.

His wife Anushka Rizvi who worked as his co-director for the movie Peepli Live, has stated that the accusations are false and that they would fight it till her husband was proven innocent and let off by the law. She issued a statement saying, “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.”

The lady complainant has stated that she had met the director through a mutual friend back in 2014 when she was in India, with regards to her research work that Farooqui helped her with. She said that, he later invited her to a party at his Delhi apartment in March, 2015. She claims that as the other guests were leaving, Farooqui requested her to stay behind and meet his wife who would soon arrive. But soon as they were alone, he sexually assaulted her. Distraught over what had occurred, the 30- year old student left the country, only to return, three months later, to register her complaint and seek justice for the torture she suffered.

She further claims to be in possession of emails, wherein Farooqui has accepted his crime and asked for forgiveness from her.