Sooraj Pancholi Recalls Trauma Of Jail Time After Jiah Khan's Suicide: 'They Put Me Where Kasab...'

Actor Sooraj Pancholi opens up about the trauma he faced during his imprisonment in the Jiah Khan suicide case.

Actor Sooraj Pancholi recounts his traumatic experience in Arthur Road Jail during the Jiah Khan case, where he was held in solitary confinement under harsh conditions.

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Actor Sooraj Pancholi has opened up about the emotional and psychological trauma he endured following his arrest in connection with the Jiah Khan suicide case. In a recent interaction, he recounted his harrowing experience at Arthur Road Jail, where he was imprisoned after being accused of abetment to suicide.

Speaking to Hindi Rush, Sooraj reflected on the terrifying ordeal he went through as a 21-year-old. “It’s all hazy. I was just a 21-year-old boy at the time. I was sent to Arthur Road Jail and put in the ‘anda cell’ (solitary confinement). I was in the same cell where they had put Kasab (26/11 attacker Ajmal Kasab). They treated me like I’d done a bomb blast,” he said.

He continued, “They put me where they put Kasab. I didn’t even have a pillow; I’d sleep on newspapers. They treated me terribly, like I had committed some horrible crime. I am not even exaggerating. It was four or five years later that I understood what exactly I had been through. When it was happening, it all felt like a dream.”

About Jiah Khan and the suicide case

Jiah Khan, best known for her performances in Bollywood films like Nishabd and Ghajini, was found dead in her Mumbai apartment on June 3, 2013. Her body was discovered by her mother, Rabiya Khan. Following her death, her then-boyfriend, Sooraj Pancholi, was arrested by Mumbai Police on charges of abetment to suicide.

The case was primarily based on a six-page handwritten note allegedly penned by Jiah. In the letter, she detailed her emotionally turbulent relationship with Sooraj, alleging physical abuse, mental trauma, and emotional manipulation. Investigators claimed the distress described in the note ultimately led her to take her own life. Sooraj is the son of veteran actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab.

At the time, media reports stated that the 21 days Sooraj spent in jail had a devastating impact on him. A decade later, in 2023, a special court acquitted Sooraj Pancholi of all charges, citing lack of evidence and inconsistencies in the case.