Bollywood star Veena Malik has been sentenced to 26 years in prison for taking part in a ‘blasphemous’ TV programme.
The 30-year-old actress, along with her husband Asad Bashir Khan Khattak, the owner of the company that aired the programme Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and TV host Shaista Wahidi have been given 104 years in jail between them by a Pakistani court.
The offending programme was shown several months ago and involved the couple reenacting their wedding to the tune of a “contemptuous” qawwali, a traditional form of South Asian music. A clip can be seen above.
Judge Shahbaz Khan also imposed a 1.3 million Pakistani rupees (£12,000 approx) fine and ordered that their properties should be sold to pay for it if they failed to do so themselves, the Times of India reports.
The judge said in his judgment that all four accused committed ‘profanity’ and asked the police to arrest them.
Malik is understood to currently be living in the United Arab Emirates, according to an interview reported in India Today following the judgement. The other three are also understood to be out of the country.
The group have the right to appeal in the regional high court in Gilgit-Baltistan, which Malik said she believed would be successful.
She reportedly told a local newspaper: “”26 years! Come on. 26 years is a lifetime…
“But I have faith in higher courts in Pakistan. When the final verdict comes, it will do justice to me. Nothing bad is going to happen.
“I have faced highs and lows in my life. But I am sure I haven’t done anything wrong.”
She has not commented directly on the accusations on her Twitter profile but she has posted a number of tweets, mostly of her newborn son Abram Khan Khattak.
She says she plans on going back to Pakistan in December.
Source: Mirror