Salman Khan: Bollywood star jailed for five years over hit-and-run crash
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Version 0 of 1. “In friendship there is a rule... no sorry, no thank you,” Indian actor Salman Khan famously said in his 1989 debut film Maine Pyar Kiya (I Fell in Love) – one of many lines that has been inscribed into the memories of Bollywood movie fans across the world. In the intervening 26 years, Khan has become one of India’s biggest exports, starring in more than 80 Hindi-language films and television shows including commercial hits such as Dabangg, Kick, Ready, and Bodyguard. His fanbase among both Hindus and Muslims is so big that many of his films are released to coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid. But yesterday, as camera crews and crowds of devotees surrounded his home in the Galaxy Apartments in the fashionable Bandra area of suburban Mumbai, the 49-year-old actor was in the headlines for reasons that were not remotely glamorous; hours earlier, Khan had been sentenced to five years in prison for running over five homeless men, one of whom was killed, in a hit-and-run case that has dragged on for more than 12 years. Khan was found guilty of culpable homicide, negligence and driving under the influence of alcohol when he crashed his Toyota Land Cruiser into a group of rough sleepers outside a bakery on the night of 28 September 2002. Related: Why Salman Khan will never be guilty in the eyes of his biggest fans Khan has launched an appeal, which will be be heard on Friday. The actor has been bailed until then. After a series of court hearings and legal hold-ups, the trial only began in earnest last year. When his sentence was read out on Wednesday, Khan appeared stunned and tired, sinking into his chair as his family gathered around him. The star was alleged to have been drinking cocktails at an upmarket bar on the evening of the incident. At the time, a constable attached to the actor’s security detail told police Khan had lost control of the car while driving at about 55mph. “The people were sleeping on the footpath. Salman and (his cousin) Kamaal ran away from the spot,” said the constable, who died in 2007 of tuberculosis. One of the rough sleepers injured in the incident added: “Salman was so drunk he fell. He stood but he fell again and then he … ran away.” Khan has consistently denied being behind the wheel at the time of the accident. When he took to the stand in March, he pleaded not guilty and blamed his driver, Ashok Singh, for the crash. Singh himself testified that it was him, not Khan, who had been driving. He said the crash occurred after the front left tyre of the car burst and made steering and braking difficult. Khan’s defence team maintained that the actor had been drinking water all evening and had climbed out of the driver’s seat after the accident because the passenger side door had been damaged. They said the victim was killed during an operation to move the car rather than by the crash itself. The verdict had been keenly awaited both by his legions of fans and Bollywood studios, who stand to lose millions of dollars if they have to cancel filming for movies he was due to star in. Within minutes of the court session starting yesterday, Judge DW Deshpande announced Khan had been found guilty on all charges. For three hours, lawyers on both sides put forward their arguments over his punishment. Khan’s lawyer Shrikant Shivade argued against a prison sentence, saying the actor had given generously to charity and was suffering from a neurological condition. “We are not running away from responsibility,” Shivade said, adding that Khan’s Being Human charity had helped underprivileged communities across India. It had funded heart surgery for 600 children, he said, while others mentioned Khan’s donations of around £20,000 to his victims and willingness to give more. But the prosecution countered that “fines are not enough” and that the punishment had to be a deterrent to others. “After going through the arguments put forth by both sides, I have come to the conclusion that five years is proper punishment,” the judge told the packed court. Begum Shaikh, the wife of the victim, Nurulah Mahbob Sharif, said she had been waiting for justice for a long time. “We have gone through a lot of hardships. Everything is so expensive and we hardly have any income. My kids are always under stress,” she told the CNN-IBN channel. Another victim of the incident, who was seriously injured and has suffered long periods of unemployment since the crash, said he was uninterested in the conviction. “Compensation matters more,” he said. Meanwhile, some Bollywood stars rushed to back the actor. On Tuesday, names including Shah Rukh Khan, David Dhawan and Sajid Nadiadwala gathered at Khan’s residence in a show of support. Upon sentencing, actor Arjun Kapoor tweeted: “It doesn’t matter what anyone or any court says he doesn’t deserve this at any level.” Member of parliament and former actress Hema Malini said: “I am feeling bad about it. I am very sad. My sympathies are with Salman. I will pray that he gets less punishment.” “Heart-wrenching, but law takes its course. But in the past judges reduced punishment keeping in mind humanitarian work,” another member of parliament and Bollywood singer Babul Supriyo said. “People shouldn’t think Salman Khan is being given special treatment but humanitarian work should be kept in mind.” Actor Sonakshi Sinha said it was “terrible news”. “Don’t know what to say except that will stand by [Khan] no matter what. He’s a good man and no one can take that away from him,” she tweeted. Parineeti Chopra added: “Hurts to think of what could happen. We will always be with you. Hope the judge sees the beauty of a human being that Salman Khan is.” Khan has several films in the pipeline, with industry analysts predicting that 2.5bn rupees (£25.9m) worth of film production is riding on him. “It’s not just about the films he has in hand. It’s about the films he will be making in the next five years,” Shailesh Kapoor, of the industry tracker Ormax Media, told Reuters. “It will be a lost opportunity. Given how much Bollywood is struggling these days, it will hit where it hurts.” Khan, the son of famed Bollywood scriptwriter Salim Khan, has seen four of his films reach the top 10 highest-grossing Indian films of all time. But the actor has also been on the wrong side of the law before. In 1998 he spent more than a week in prison for killing an endangered Indian gazelle during a hunting trip. If his sentencing is upheld on Friday, Khan will become the second big-name Bollywood actor to be imprisoned in the past two years, following Sanjay Dutt, star of a series of gangster movies, who was jailed for possession of weapons linked to several bombings in Mumbai in 1993. Agence France Presse contributed to this report |