Jiah Khan death case: Special CBI court likely to deliver final verdict today

After almost a decade, a special CBI court in Mumbai is likely to give its verdict in connection with the death of actor Jiah Khan on Friday. The Nishabd star was found dead at her residence in Mumbai on June 3, 2013.

Based on a letter seized on June 10, which was purportedly written by the 25-year-old actor, Mumbai Police booked actor Sooraj Pancholi under section 306 (abetment to suicide) and arrested him. Sooraj, son of actors Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was allegedly in a relationship with Jiah. Jiah's mother Rabia Khan alleged that her daughter was murdered.

In October 2013, Rabia moved to Bombay High Court seeking a CBI probe in the case while alleging that her daughter had been murdered. On the order of the Bombay High Court, the CBI took over the probe from the Maharashtra Police in July 2014. Rabia claimed that her daughter was in an abusive relationship with Sooraj Pancholi.Sooraj and Jiah started dating in September 2012.

For the unversed, the actress allegedly died by suicide, seeking a fresh investigation into the ten-year-old case. The case was probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which has charged actor Sooraj Pancholi, Jiah Khan's boyfriend, with abetting her suicide. The 25-year-old actress was found hanging at her Mumbai residence on June 3, 2013.

Soon after her death, Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia alleged that her daughter had been in a relationship with Sooraj Pancholi, and he was responsible for her death, driving her to take her own life. It was alleged that Pancholi had been verbally and physically abusing Jiah Khan during their relationship.

On June 7, 2015, Jiah Khan’s sister recovered a six-page suicide note from her residence, where the actress had allegedly pointed the blame for her death on her boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi. Pancholi was arrested on June 11 on the charges of abetment to suicide.

Sooraj Pancholi walked out of jail on July 1 after being granted bail, and the case was eventually handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Further, a murder angle emerged in the case but was eventually ruled out by CBI in the charge sheet filed in 2014.

While Khan’s mother Rabia alleged that the injuries on her daughter’s body were consistent with a murder, the case was then transferred to a Special CBI court in 2021. Now, the court is set to announce its verdict in the Jiah Khan suicide case on April 28, Friday. (With inputs from ANI and PTI)

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