Bollywood actor Suraj Pancholi subjected actress Jiah Khan, who allegedly committed suicide here in 2013, to physical and verbal abuse, her mother told a special court on Wednesday. Pancholi, who was in a relationship with the 25-year-old actress, has been charged with inciting suicide in a case being investigated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He is currently out on bail. On Wednesday, Jiah Khan’s mother Rabia Khan began recording her testimony in the case before Special Judge AS Sayyad.
Rabia Khan told the court about the actress’ entry into Bollywood, her career progression and her relationship with Pancholi. Pancholi approached Jiah Khan through a social media site and insisted on meeting her, she said. Jiah Khan was initially apprehensive and reluctant, but the duo met for the first time in September 2012, Rabia Khan said.
At that time she sent me some pictures. They seemed to click and have a common interest. However, she (Jiah Khan) told me in September that they were just friends. Rabia Khan said that Pancholi “took over” her daughter’s daily routine and in October 2012, the duo started living at each other’s house. During her visit to their London home in November that year, the actress looked very happy, she said.
Rabia Khan said that Jiah Khan then returned to Mumbai for professional work and was supposed to come back to celebrate Christmas but did not arrive. On 24 December 2012, Rabia Khan said that she received a message from Pancholi that he got angry with Jiah Khan after an argument with a friend and that she (the actress) should forgive him and give him another chance. “At that time I found out that the pair had had a violent argument,” she said. Rabia Khan said that Jiah Khan decided to give him a second chance and the duo went to Goa.
However, in one of her phone calls, Jiah Khan complained that she was in a very strange place and did not want to stay there, she said. In Goa, he put her down in front of other friends and flirted with other women in her presence, Rabia Khan said, referring to conversations with her daughter. Rabia Khan said that Jiah Khan suddenly appeared in London on February 14, 2013, looking sad.
According to Rabia Khan, Jiah Khan told her that Pancholi verbally and physically abused her and also called her “dirty names”. The testimony of Jiah Khan’s mother will continue on Thursday.The actress, best known for her performance in the Hindi film ‘Nishabd’ starring Amitabh Bachchan, was found hanged by her mother at her residence in Mumbai on June 3, 2013. Pancholi, son of Bollywood couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, is currently out on bail.
The CBI claimed that the three-page note seized by the Mumbai police, which first investigated the case, on June 10, 2013, was written by Jiah Khan and narrated her ordeal. The report recounted Jiah Khan’s “intimate relationship, physical abuse and mental and physical torture” allegedly at the hands of Pancholi, which led her to commit suicide, the central agency said.
