Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 30 : Moroccan singer Saad Lamjarred has been sentenced to 10 years in prison in an alleged rape case dating back to 2016, following a ruling by an appeals court in Créteil, south-east of Paris, on Saturday. 
According to Gulf News, the 41-year-old singer was convicted of raping a woman in a Paris hotel room after meeting her at a nightclub. The latest sentence is four years longer than the six-year prison term handed down by a Paris court in 2023. 
French prosecutors said Lamjarred was ordered into custody after being found guilty of rape aggravated by his alcohol consumption. Prosecutors had sought an eight-year prison sentence, as per Gulf News. 
Lamjarred has claimed innocence and plans to challenge the latest ruling before France’s Court of Cassation, one of his lawyers, Marie Burguburu, told Agence France-Presse.
The appeal proceedings in Créteil were held behind closed doors. The hearing, which was initially scheduled for June 2025, was postponed to allow further investigations.
As per Gulf News, Lamjarred has also faced allegations in other cases, including proceedings in Morocco in 2015 and the United States in 2010. The US case, which involved allegations of rape and sexual assault, was later closed following a financial settlement.
Despite the legal cases, Lamjarred continues to have a large following across the Arab world, with more than 15 million followers on Instagram and around 16 million subscribers on YouTube. 
For the unversed, Lamjarred had earlier collaborated with Bigg Boss fame Shehnaaz Gill on the cross-cultural musical single ‘Bezaf’, which was released in April 2026. The track brought together the Moroccan singer and the Indian actor-singer, with vocals from Indian singer Neha Kakkar also featuring in the song.