Monday, 11 May 2015

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan sentenced to five years in jail in hit-and-run case

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An Indian judge has sentenced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to five years in jail over the killing a homeless man in a 2002 hit-and-run after a night out drinking.
Judge DW Deshpande found Khan guilty of culpable homicide after driving his Toyota Land Cruiser into a group of homeless men sleeping rough in suburban Mumbai after spending the evening in an upmarket bar.
"After going through the arguments put forth by both sides, I have come to the conclusion that five years is proper punishment," Mr Deshpande told the packed sessions court.
One man was killed and several others were injured in the incident.
Khan, the star of blockbusters such as Dabangg (Fearless), looked stunned as the sentence was read out, according to reporters inside the courtroom.
But the actor was later granted bail ahead of an appeal in India's notoriously slow legal system.
He had always denied being behind the wheel, but a prison sentence will now potentially bring the career of one of the Indian movie industry's biggest box-office stars to a shuddering halt.
Khan's lawyer Shrikant Shivade argued against prison for his client. He said Khan had given generously to charity and was also suffering from a neurological condition.
ut prosecutor Pradeep Gharat said that "fines are not enough", adding that "the punishment has to be a deterrent" to others.
Bollywood stars took to Twitter to express their support, with Arjun Kapoor saying: "It doesn't matter what anyone or any court says he doesn't deserve this at any level."
But the wife of the man killed in the incident, Begum Shaikh, said she had been waiting a long time for justice, adding: "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 local media.
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