Sooraj Pancholi Charged With Abetment In Jiah Khan Suicide

A sessions court on Tuesday (Jan 30) framed charges against actor Sooraj Pancholi for abetting his girlfriend Jiah Khan’s suicide in 2013. He has pleaded not guilty and his trial is expected to start on February 14. The charges are under Section 306 of the IPC and has a punishment of 10 years in jail.

Actor Jiah Khan was found hanging in her bedroom on June 3, 2013. Her boyfriend, Sooraj, was arrested shortly after and charged with abetment. He was later released on bail. Jiah’s mother had alleged murder, but in December 2015, the CBI had ruled out murder.

Sooraj subjected her to physical and mental abuse

A CBI probe said that Sooraj had ruined Jiah's life. Her suicide note indicated that she would do things like clean his flat, iron his clothes and keep them in the cupboard. Just an hour before her suicide, said the CBI, she had had a fight with him. She also had an abortion while four weeks pregnant in January 2013

A doctor, who prescribed the pill, said Sooraj had called him and said that the half the stuff was still inside Jiah. Instead of taking her to the hospital, he called the doctor and said he had helped her pull out the remaining stuff.

Her note said, “I was scared of getting pregnant but I gave you myself completely. The pain you have caused me every day has destroyed every bit of me. Destroyed my soul and I aborted our baby when it hurt me deeply."

The CBI said that her relationship showed physical abuse, and mental and physical torture. It said that though the letter was not written to Sooraj, it incriminated him.

Jiah’s mother insists she was murdered

 "At last today the court has gone ahead with framing of charges, at last the journey to reveal the truth has begun... I would have been happier if more serious charges had been framed after investigating the scientific evidence... for this purpose, I will go to the high court. I'm sure the truth will come out, that my daughter was murdered,” said her mother.

Also Read: A patriachal twist in the tale: The Jiah Khan murder story

Picture Credit: Deccan Chronicle