On April 28, a verdict will be made in the suicide case of Jiah Khan
Jiah Khan
On April 28, nearly ten years after Bollywood actor Jiah Khan was discovered dead at her home, a special CBI court in Mumbai is expected to render a verdict in the suicide case in which her partner and fellow film star Sooraj Pancholi has been accused with abetment. On Thursday, the concluding arguments were presented to Special CBI Judge AS Sayyad, who then reserved judgement.
On June 3, 2013, the body of American citizen Jiah (25), who lived in the Juhu neighbourhood of Mumbai, was discovered. Subsequently, police booked Sooraj for “abetment to suicide” when he was identified in a six-page letter allegedly written by the Bollywood starlet.
In 2021, when the sessions court declared that it lacked jurisdiction because the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had already investigated the case, the case was transferred to a special CBI court.
Rabia Khan, Jiah’s mother and a key prosecution witness, said that she did not think her daughter committed suicide. Her plea asking for a new probe into the crime was denied by the Bombay High Court last year.
Rabia testified before the CBI court and stated that Jiah had been the victim of physical and verbal abuse at the hands of Sooraj.
According to Rabia’s testimony, the police and the CBI had not gathered any “legal evidence” to indicate that her daughter had committed suicide.
An attorney representing Suraj, Prashant Patil, said, “We concluded the final arguments today (Thursday) on facts as well as on merits in the matter of Sooraj Pancholi versus CBI.”
We cited several seminal decisions from the high court and the Supreme Court to show that the current case does not constitute “abetting suicide.” Patil continued, “The case has been set for a judgement to be rendered (on April 28).
The actress’ mother discovered her body after she had hanged herself at their home; she was best known for her role in the Hindi film Nishabd, which starred Amitabh Bachchan.
His parents, Bollywood actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, have posted bail for their son, Pancholi, who is free to roam at large.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that Jiah Khan wrote the letter that was found during the initial investigation into the case on June 10, 2013.
According to the central agency, Jiah Khan’s suicide letter detailed her “intimate relationship, physical abuse, and mental and physical torture” at the hands of Pancholi.
