CBI files charge sheet in starlet Jiah Khan suicide case

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday filed a charge sheet in the Jiah Khan suicide case in which actor Sooraj Pancholi, the son of Bollywood couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, is an accused. The charge sheet has been filed in a special CBI court in Mumbai.

It may be recalled that the case was transferred to the CBI in July last year following the orders of the Bombay High Court which had directed the agency to probe whether the death was a suicide or homicide on the plea of Jiah's mother Rabiya.

Jiah, an American citizen, was found dead at her Juhu home in Mumbai on June 3, 2013. Police later arrested Sooraj on the basis of a six-page letter, allegedly written by the Bollywood starlet, and booked Sooraj for 'abetment of suicide'.

According to police, Jiah, 25, was in a relationship with Sooraj. Sooraj was then trying to make a foothold in Bollywood and he recently made his screen debut with Salman Khan's Hero. The Bombay High Court had subsequently granted bail to Sooraj. His bail application contended that the two were in a consensual relationship, and the letter was being misused by Jiah's mother Rabiya.

In October 2013, Rabiya had moved the Bombay High Court alleging that her daughter had been murdered, seeking a CBI probe. The suburban Juhu police on January 16, 2013, had filed a charge sheet in Andheri magistrate's court before the case was transferred to CBI in July, 2014. Jiah's relationship with actor Sooraj was said to be strained and it was suspected that it drove her to end her life.