The Juhu police Monday evening arrested Sooraj Pancholi, son of actors
Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, for allegedly abetting the
suicide ofactor Jiah Khan. The arrest came after her mother, Rabiya Amin,
submitted a
six-page
letter, purportedly written by Jiah, detailing the "difficult
relationship" between Jiah and Sooraj.
The last conversation Jiah had was with Sooraj at 10.53 pm that day. Juhu
police had recorded Sooraj's statement on June 4.
Rabiya said the family found the letter in Jiah's wallet in her room two
days after she died. The letter states that Jiah was beaten up and forced to
abort.
"The arrest is based on Rabiya's complaint and her statement,"
said Cherring Dorje, DCP (Zone 9). He added that the letter would be treated as
evidence, though there was no mention of the name 'Sooraj' anywhere in the
letter.
The police initially detained Sooraj for over 90 minutes and questioned him
over the contents of the letter. "He has admitted to the abortion and
confessed that he hurt her physically. We arrested him after questioning,"
said an officer.
Sooraj said he had been avoiding Jiah for over two months, but could not
after a point as she was very emotional, an officer said.
Rabiya on Monday told the police that Sooraj had physically and mentally
tortured Jiah. She said Aditya Pancholi was against the affair, as Jiah was
older than Sooraj.
"When Jiah came to London for her birthday a few months ago, she had
bruises on her face. I asked her about it and she told me she was in love with
Sooraj. I called her sisters to the room and she broke down," said Rabiya.
"She once told me: 'He abuses me, hits me, doesn't respect me and
embarrasses me in front of his friends'. I asked her to walk out of the abusive
relationship and stop talking to him," she added.
Rabiya rubbished reports that Jiah was depressed. "She had no work-related
problems and was happy. She had asked me to attend a film festival with her
when she came to London. She had signed an English film recently," Rabiya
said.
Meanwhile, the police are awaiting the handwriting analysis report of the
letter to ascertain whether its author was Jiah. "We will present Sooraj
before court on Tuesday," said Arun Bhagat, senior inspector.
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