A special women’s court in Mumbai framed ‘abetment to suicide’ charges against Sooraj Pancholi in the Jiah Khan case. The actor has pleaded not guilty even as the trial of the case will begin in February. The actor has been booked under Section 306 of the Indian Penal Code, which pertains to abetment of suicide. Jiah’s mother, Rabia wanted the charges to be framed under section 302 (murder), 376 (rape) and 313 (causing miscarriage without a woman’s consent).
Actress Jiah Khan who was popular for her role in Nishabd opposite Amitabh Bachchan, committed suicide on June 13, 2013 in her apartment. Rabia found her hanging in her room and accused Aditya Pancholi’s son, Sooraj Pancholi, who was in a relationship with Jiah Khan. The actress had also worked in movies like Ghajini and Housefull.
Sooraj Pancholi was first arrested by Juhu police on June 10,2013. He secured bail from Mumbai High Court in July 2013, after his plea was rejected by the lower court. Blaming Sooraj for murdering Jiah, Rabia Khan released a letter written by Jiah Khan before her death.
In October 2013, Rabia moved High Court accusing Pancholi of murder, although Juhu police, investigating the case ruled it out. HC transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation in July 2014, after Rabia filed a petition that the Juhu police wasn’t investigating the case properly.
The CBI, in their chargesheet filed in December 2015, accused Sooraj Pancholi of abetment of suicide and not murder. Meanwhile in 2016, the lower court had started hearing the case on CBI’s chargesheet but Rabia Khan had approached a British Forensic agency, which questioned CBI’s theory and claimed that ‘Jiah’s murder was a staged suicide’.
Rabia filed another petition in the HC in February 2017 for setting up a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the case, which was dismissed. HC directed the lower court in August 2017 to continue with the proceedings against Sooraj Pancholi, based on CBI’s chargesheet.
Also read: Bombay HC rejects PIL seeking SIT probe in Jiah Khan death case
In September 2017, Rabia wrote an open letter to PM Narendra Modi seeking justice for her daughter. She wrote:
“I am a British citizen, the mother of Jiah Khan, who was murdered in India Mumbai on 3 June 2013. It has been four years now that I had been persistently fighting for justice… Analysis of the forensic experts shows that the injuries on my daughter’s body are inconsistent with the alleged suicidal hanging and all forensic evidence strongly suggest that she was murdered and then hanged to make it look like a suicide.”
Five years on, the special women’s court Judge K D Shirbhate framed charges against Sooraj Pancholi.
