The Jiah Khan suicide and Sooraj Pancholi case: What's new

Late British-American actress Jiah Khan's mother Rabiya Khan has said that her daughter wanted to end her relationship with actor Sooraj Pancholi because of physical and mental abuse. Jiah Khan, who rose to fame with movies like Nishabd and Ghajini, died by suicide on June 3, 2013.

In her statement to a special court in Mumbai, Jiah's mother said that her daughter, at one point during her relationship with Sooraj, was very disturbed. According to Rabiya, Jiah told her, "Mummy, he abuses me verbally and physically and calls me dirty names, and one day he threw me out of the car."

Jiah Khan's suicide: The young actor, who rose to fame with movies like Nishabd and Ghajini died by suicide on June 3, 2013. She left a six page suicide note, blaming her then boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi for making her take the extreme step.

Soon after Jiah's suicide, Sooraj Pancholi was arrested by Mumbai Police, and was later granted bail by the Bombay High Court on July 3, 2013. The case was then transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July 2014 by the Bombay HC to determine whether it was a case of suicide or homicide.

CBI filed a chargesheet in December 2015, and booked Sooraj as the main accused in the case. CBI booked him for "abetment of suicide". 

After eight years, in 2021, the case was transferred to a special CBI court.

The film career of Jiah Khan: The young actress had hit the bull's eye with her first film, the Ram Gopal Varma-directed Nishabd (2007), starring Amitabh Bachchan. Jiah was 18 back then, and was studying at the Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute when she was offered the film by Ram Gopal Varma. Though the film tanked at the box office, Jiah shot to fame. In 2008, she starred in Aamir Khan's Ghajini and then in 2010, she worked in Sajid Khan's Housefull with Akshay Kumar. 

However, her career hit a low after three films. She didn't get good offers after that. Her mother said that in 2012, she was in Mumbai preparing for a role in a movie with Akshay Kumar, but the project was shelved. It was around the same time that Jiah came across Sooraj Pancholi, son of Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi.

Relationship with Sooraj Pancholi: Jiah Khan confided in her mother that she came across Sooraj Pancholi on Facebook. The two met for the first time in September 2012 and started dating. The relationship went through a rough patch in December 2012 but they later made up. However, things soon turned sour.

On February 14, 2013, Jiah flew to London where she spoke to her mother about the physical and mental abuse she suffered at the hands of Sooraj Pancholi. She flew back to Mumbai by February 20 and met Sooraj again. "But soon after, my daughter Karishma received a message from Jiah stating that Sooraj was alone at the hospital after his surgery and that she [Jiah] was nursing him," Rabiya Khan told the Mumbai court.

On June 3, 2013, Jia Khan was found dead at her Juhu home. 

What Sooraj Pancholi says: Though in 2015 the CBI accused Sooraj Pancholi of abetment to Jiah Khan's suicide, Pancholi has maintained his innocence in the case. In an interview in 2021, he said that he should be penalised if  found guilty, but if the court doesn't find him guilty, he should be freed of all charges. "I am a little satisfied with this because my case should have been in the special CBI court from the beginning. This period has been tough for me. I trust that there will be light at the end of this tunnel," Pancholi said in an interview to the Times of India.

What's the latest on the case: The special court has decided to conduct further deposition of Jiah Khan's mother Rabiya Khan. In the meantime, advocate Prashant Patil, appearing for Pancholi, has sought a few days to prepare questions for cross-examination. The court said that it would hear the case again today, August 18.