Mumbai: A special CBI court in Mumbai is likely to pronounce its verdict on Friday in the suicide case of actress Jiah Khan, who was found dead at her suburban home on June 3, 2013. Actor Sooraj Pancholi Wahab, son of actor Aditya Pancholi and Zarina, has been accused of abetting Khan’s suicide.
Suraj Pancholi was charged on the basis of a 6-page letter allegedly written by Khan, which was found hanging at his Juhu home. According to the Central Bureau of Investigation, the letter seized by the Mumbai Police, which launched the probe on June 10, 2013, was written by Jiah Khan.
The CBI claimed that the note allegedly spoke about her “intimate relationship, physical abuse and mental and physical torture” at the hands of Pancholi, which led to her suicide.
The case was handed over to a special CBI court in 2021 after the sessions court said it did not have jurisdiction over the matter as it was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Special CBI Judge AS Sayyed had last week reserved its judgment in the case for April 28 after hearing final arguments from both the sides.
Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia Khan, who is a key prosecution witness in the case, told the court that she believes it is a case of murder and not suicide. The Bombay High Court had last year dismissed his plea seeking a fresh probe into the matter.
During her testimony, Rabia Khan told the CBI court that Pancholi used to physically and verbally abuse Jiah Khan. She also alleged that the police and CBI did not collect legal evidence to prove that her daughter had committed suicide.
Pancholi, in his 313-page statement filed before the court, had claimed that the investigation and the chargesheet were false, with prosecution witnesses testifying against him at the behest of complainant Rabia Khan, the police and the CBI.
Jiah Khan is best known for her performance in the film ‘Nishabd’ starring Amitabh Bachchan.