The death of Jiah Khan, a young actress, in 2013 took the nation by shock. The actress’ was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her residence in Juhu on June 3. What followed next was a series of investigations with Jiah’s boyfriend actor Sooraj Pancholi being an important part of the probe. But despite being a high-profile incident, the truth has still not seen the light of the day. This delay in justice prompted Jiah’s mother Rabya to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the heartfelt letter Rabya complained about the lapses in the probe conducted by CBI and asked the PM to intervene. Rabya also wrote her daughter was murdered and she did not commit suicide.
Jiah Khan’s case is one of the murkiest cases Bollywood has witnessed. It was alleged that Jiah’s relationship with Aditya Pancholi led to this fateful incident. Months after the investigation began, a letter of Jiah written to Sooraj was found. In the letter, Jiah accused Sooraj of destroying her. One part of her letter read, “When I first met you I was driven, ambitious and disciplined. Then I fell for you, a love I thought would bring out the best in me. I don’t know why destiny brought us together. After all the pain, the rape, the abuse, the torture I have seen previously I didn’t deserve this.”
Also read: Kritika Chaudhary, Jiah Khan, Pratyusha Banerjee: Actresses who died under mysterious circumstances
Since the investigation started, Rabya has been doing all she can to ensure her daughter gets justice. For four years now, Rabya has been knocking doors on judicial institutions in hope to find justice. It won’t be wrong to say that Rabya has gone through a lot. Maybe this long process has taken a toll on Rabya which is why writing to PM was the last thing she could think of.
Here is the letter:
I am a British citizen the mother of Jiah Khan, who was murdered in India Mumbai on 3 June 2013. It has been four years now that I have been persistently fighting for justice. All the forensic evidence that I have obtained from experts in India and England is pointing towards homicide. Analysis of the forensic experts shows that the injuries on my daughter’s body are inconsistent with the alleged suicidal hanging and all forensic evidence strongly suggest that she was murdered and then hanged to make it look like a suicide.
The Hon’ble Bombay High Court, in July 2014, transferred the investigation to the CBI with a clear mandate to find out whether my daughter’s death was homicidal or suicidal, and if it was found to be homicidal, to launch a further investigation and take appropriate action.
The Hon’ble Bombay High Court, in July 2014, transferred the investigation to the CBI with a clear mandate to find out whether my daughter’s death was homicidal or suicidal, and if it was found to be homicidal, to launch a further investigation and take appropriate action.
For some reason, CBI was reluctant to take over the case from the beginning, and in fifteen months of delay in their findings, the CBI investigation got compromised. It would be an insult to the capabilities of the CBI to say that CBI just failed to conduct a proper investigation. There is no doubt CBI has all the powers and skills required to get to the bottom of my daughter’s death. But somehow, the CBI investigation went off track, for reasons best known to them.
Instead, CBI’s own independent forensic expert opinion is inconclusive and does not rule out either homicide or suicide. The CBI simply recycled the already compromised information provided by the Juhu police, and the worst is, in their own report they deliberately distorted certain information.
Anyone looking at the actual facts, in this case, realises that the case has been heavily “managed”. It is not my task to speculate about the police’s and the CBI’s motivation, but a connection and the influence of the Accused’s father Aditya Pancholi would not be too far-fetched.
The forensic expert Jason Payne-James in his report clearly states that this appears to be a staged homicide. So I approached the Hon’ble High Court earlier this year with all the relevant grievances and expert reports requesting reinvestigation by a SIT. CBI opposed, but the Hon’ble High Court noted in its order that all the points raised in my petition can be submitted to the trial court.
I submitted my application to the trial court through State-appointed Special Public Prosecutor, Dinesh Tiwari who knows the history of this case from the beginning. Following this submission, CBI has been trying to remove SPP Tiwari and to replace him with one of its own prosecutors who has no knowledge about the case and has been displaying a hostile attitude towards me.Recently, when my application to submit key evidence and forensic expert reports was argued in the trial court, the CBI, along with the accused, strongly opposed their recognition by the court. Now the main point is that if the CBI, who has joined hands with the accused, is not with the victim and not willing to cooperate with me, then how is justice going to be served?I am attaching the forensic report by forensic expert Jason Payne-James and a report by Professor Deborah Bonneveld to highlight what CBI ignored to investigate and denied justice to the victim’s family.I fail to write in words my pain and grief. I expect answers to my daughter’s death. May God guide you and help us to get justice. Please let me know what are your plans and advice for the victim’s mother and family. I am knocking at every door where each person’s voice matters. God has placed you on high position to help us against injustice. As a parent, you will understand my pain.”
Kind regards,
Rabya Khan.
If nothing else, this letter bares the ordeal Rabya has been going through. We really hope this pain of hers comes to an end and her daughter gets justice which has been long-pending.
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