'A feeble no may mean yes': Indian court overturns rape conviction

Source: MSN/The Guardian

An Indian court has overturned a rape conviction against a film director, ruling that a “feeble no” can signal consent, especially in cases where the alleged victim is well-educated.

Women’s rights activists said the decision “muddies the water” around consent in a country struggling to curb high levels of sexual violence, rampant street harassment and deeply entrenched patriarchal attitudes towards sex.

Mahmood Farooqui was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2016 for sexually assaulting an American postgraduate student while she was visiting his home in Delhi.

The woman claimed Farooqui, the co-director of the 2010 Bollywood film Peepli Live, forced himself on to her while drunk, ignored her when she repeatedly said no and restrained her arms when she tried to prevent him from removing her clothes.

Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/a-feeble-no-may-mean-yes-indian-court-overturns-rape-conviction/ar-AAsuBhe?li=BBnbfcL