College freshman charged with assault after allegedly reenacting scenes from 'Fifty Shades of Grey'
LatestA Chicago college student has been charged with sexual assault after he allegedly reenacted scenes from “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
Mohammad Hossain, a 19-year-old freshman at the University of Illinois at Chicago bound and beat a 19-year-old young woman in his dorm room, tying her to a bed with a belt and gagging her with a necktie before assaulting her, prosecutors said, according to the Chicago Tribune. He reportedly told police his actions were a reenactment of the popular movie.
Mohammad Hossain (Photo courtesy of the Cook County Sheriff’s Office)
While Hossain’s lawyer reportedly told a Cook County judge that the evening was consensual, prosecutors say the young woman was begging Hossain to stop and called police after leaving the dorm. Hossain was later arrested in a nearby dorm.
According to the Tribune, Hossain was a student leader, involved with the alumni association and a triathlon team.
“How can someone involved in all that let a movie persuade him to do something like this?” Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. reportedly asked his lawyer before setting his bail at $500,000.
The movie, which has grossed more than $400 million worldwide, has been criticized for equating sex and violence without fully addressing what it means to truly consent.
“Instead of selling a fantasy, ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ becomes a mess of innuendo, blurred consent lines and, ultimately, emotional and physical abuse,” wrote Jessica Goodman in the Huffington Post.
If the allegations against Hossain are true, that mess has proved all too real for at least one young woman.
Emily DeRuy is a Washington, D.C.-based associate editor, covering education, reproductive rights, and inequality. A San Francisco native, she enjoys Giants baseball and misses Philz terribly.