Jiah Khan Suicide Case: After Acquittal Sooraj Pancholi Says 'Truth Always Wins', Rabia Khan To Challenge The Verdict
A special CBI court on Friday acquitted actor Sooraj Pancholi, accused of abetting the suicide of his then-actor girlfriend Jiah Khan in 2013.
New Delhi: A special CBI court on Friday acquitted actor Sooraj Pancholi, accused of abetting the suicide of his then-actor girlfriend Jiah Khan in 2013, citing the lack of evidence against him. A few minutes after his acquittal, the actor took to his Instagram story and shared, “The truth always wins.”
Reacting to the verdict, Jiah Khan's mother Rabia Khan told media, “The judgement is not surprising. I anticipated this Our battle is still on. We will appeal. The CBI never took interest in the case.”
“The charge of abetment to suicide has gone. But how did my child die? This is a case of murder...will approach the high court,” she added.
Sooraj Pancholi (32), who is currently out on bail, was charged under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 306 (abetment of suicide). Jiah Khan's mother Rabia Khan had been refuting the prosecution's case that this was a case of suicide and claimed that her daughter was killed.
Special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court judge A S Sayyad while pronouncing the verdict, said that due to paucity of evidence, the court can't hold Sooraj Pancholi guilty.
Sooraj, the son of actor couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was present in the court with his mother at the time of the verdict.
Jiah was found dead at her Juhu home in Mumbai on June 3, 2013. Jiah was stated to be in a relationship with Sooraj.
Police later arrested Sooraj based on a six-page letter, purportedly written by the Bollywood starlet, and booked him for abetment of suicide under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 306.
The note narrated Jiah Khan's "intimate relationship, physical abuse, and mental and physical torture" allegedly at the hands of Sooraj.
The case was reassigned to a special CBI court in 2021 after the sessions court said that it did not have the jurisdiction over the case as the central agency had probed it.
The prosecution in the case had examined 22 witnesses, including Jiah's mother Rabia, while Advocate Prashant Patil appeared for Sooraj.
Jiah Khan is best known for her performance in Hindi film "Nishabd" starring Amitabh Bachchan.
(With PTI inputs)
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