Salman Khan Sentenced: Bollywood Star Gets Five Years In Prison For Fatal Hit-And-Run Accident

Salman Khan has been sentenced for a hit-and-run death more than a decade ago, with a judge determining that the Bollywood star will spend five years in jail.

Judge D.W. Deshpande had already convicted Khan of culpable homicide for a 2002 incident in which he ran over five men sleeping on a sidewalk, killing one of them. Prosecutors claimed that he was drunk at the time. Khan was also given time for negligent grievous harm to the victims, though the sentences will be served concurrently.

A court reporter noted that Salman Khan looked “stunned” after he was sentenced, but the Bollywood star has not released a statement on the sentencing. His lawyer indicated that the actor planned to appeal the sentence.

The 49-year-old Khan is one of Bollywood’s biggest stars and considered the most commercially successful actor in Hindi cinema. He comes from a strong lineage, with his father Salim a screenwriter in Bollywood.

In the 1990s, Salman Khan had a string of hit movies, including romantic drama Hum Aapke Hain Koun..! (1994), the action thriller Karan Arjun (1995), the comedy Biwi No.1 (1999), and the family drama Hum Saath-Saath Hain (1999).

After a lull in his career, Khan has returned in the 2010s in several action movies, including Dabangg (2010), Bodyguard (2012), Ek Tha Tiger (2013) and Dabangg 2 (2013). Khan has appeared in the highest-grossing Bollywood films in nine separate years.

But Salman Khan has also run into controversy. Aside from his hit-and-run case, Khan was also caught up in a messy relationship and breakup with Aishwarya Rai. After they broke up in 2002, Rai accused Khan of harassing her and in 2005, a recording of a phone call circulated showing Khan threatening Rai.

Salman Khan is awaiting trial in another case in which he is accused of killing two rare deer in a wildlife preserve 16 years ago.

He also generated controversy for remarks in 2010 about the terrorist attack in Mumbai. Khan claimed that other attacks did not generate attention, but this one did because it targeted the “elite.”

“It was the elite that was targeted this time. Five star hotels and stuff,” he told a Pakistani news outlet. “So they panicked. Then they got up and spoke about it. My question is why not before. Attacks have happened in trains and small towns too, but no one talked about it so much.”

Before Salman Khan was sentenced this week, his lawyer had asked for leniency citing an unspecified medical condition.

[Image via Getty Images/Max Morse]