Jiah, known for her role in Nishabd, was found hanging from the ceiling of her Juhu residence on June 3.
New Delhi:
The Bombay High Court on Wednesday askedpolice to carry out further investigations on allegations madeby the mother of actress Jiah Khan in a petition that thelatter had been murdered and had not committed suicide.
A bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patelasked Juhu police to record the statement of Jiah's mother RabiyaKhan on October 26 at 11 am in the police station.
The judges asked the police to carry out furtherinvestigations on the material furnished before the court thatthe actor had been killed.
Government Pleader K V Saste informed that police was allset to file charge sheet in the trial court within a week.The court did not stop police from filing the charge sheet inthe trial court but ordered them to carry out furtherinvestigations on the basis of material provided by Jiah'smother indicating that the actor had been murdered.
"If necessary, additional charge sheet can be filed bypolice on the aspect of murder," the court said whiledisposing of Rabiya's petition.The pleader said that police had recorded the statement ofRabiya three times earlier. However, the court asked him whatwas the difficulty in recording yet another statement onthe basis of allegation that the actor was murdered. To this,the pleader replied that the police would once again recordRabiya's statement.
To a request made by Rabiya's lawyer Abad Ponda, the courtasked police to record her statement on October 26.Rabiya was present in the court today.
Ponda argued that his client wanted truth to prevail. Atthe moment, she was not pressing for transfer of probe tothe CBI as pleaded in the petition.The court, therefore, did not pass any order on Rabiya'splea to transfer investigations to CBI.
Jiah's mother alleged that it has come to light that herdaughter may have been killed and made to look as if shecommitted suicide.
To support her argument, Rabiya annexed to the petitionan independent forensic expert's report which indicated thiscase to be of homicidal death rather than suicide.
Alleging shoddy investigations by police only to helpJiah's boyfriend Suraj Pancholi, Jiah's mother demanded a CBIprobe into the case.
Rabiya said "she had strong reasons to suspect that theprobe was carried out by police in a manner to look as if itwas a suicide."
She alleged that Suraj is son of actor Aditya Pancholiand the family used their clout to "manage" police.The petition alleged that Jiah may have been hanged afterbeing killed. It cited reasons to support this theory.
The petition argued that a person who commits suicidewould have his or her eyes popping and tongue protruding out,while in case of Jiah it was not so. Also, in such cases lungor brain hemorrhage is generally noticed but in this case thiswas not observed.
The petition said that besides ligature marks that occurin death due to hanging, injury marks were noticed on face andbody of the actor. An injury was noticed on right side of herlips and a mark on her left arm as if someone had held hertightly.
While police claimed that Jiah had hanged herself witha muslin dupatta, forensic expert Dr R N Jerajani opinedthat the depth of ligature marks in Jiah's case was difficultto achieve with a soft material.
Dr Jerajani opined that ligature marks on Jiah's neckwere not the ones which are usually found on the body of aperson who hangs self from a ceiling fan. The possibility ofstrangulation is not ruled out in this case, he said in theforensic report.
The petition further said that CCTV camera showed Jiahhad entered her house a few minutes before she committedsuicide. At that time, she was wearing a track suit but herbody was discovered in a night gown. Would a person about tocommit suicide change her dress, the petition asked?
It said that the ceiling fan was located in betweentwo single beds and it was not possible for Jiah to hangherself without a stool and there was no stool in her house.On June 3, Jiah was found hanging from her ceiling fanin the house. A week later, Suraj was arrested. He wasreleased from jail on July 2 after the Bombay High Courtgranted him bail.
A bench of Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patelasked Juhu police to record the statement of Jiah's mother RabiyaKhan on October 26 at 11 am in the police station.
The judges asked the police to carry out furtherinvestigations on the material furnished before the court thatthe actor had been killed.
Government Pleader K V Saste informed that police was allset to file charge sheet in the trial court within a week.The court did not stop police from filing the charge sheet inthe trial court but ordered them to carry out furtherinvestigations on the basis of material provided by Jiah'smother indicating that the actor had been murdered.
"If necessary, additional charge sheet can be filed bypolice on the aspect of murder," the court said whiledisposing of Rabiya's petition.The pleader said that police had recorded the statement ofRabiya three times earlier. However, the court asked him whatwas the difficulty in recording yet another statement onthe basis of allegation that the actor was murdered. To this,the pleader replied that the police would once again recordRabiya's statement.
To a request made by Rabiya's lawyer Abad Ponda, the courtasked police to record her statement on October 26.Rabiya was present in the court today.
Ponda argued that his client wanted truth to prevail. Atthe moment, she was not pressing for transfer of probe tothe CBI as pleaded in the petition.The court, therefore, did not pass any order on Rabiya'splea to transfer investigations to CBI.
Jiah's mother alleged that it has come to light that herdaughter may have been killed and made to look as if shecommitted suicide.
To support her argument, Rabiya annexed to the petitionan independent forensic expert's report which indicated thiscase to be of homicidal death rather than suicide.
Alleging shoddy investigations by police only to helpJiah's boyfriend Suraj Pancholi, Jiah's mother demanded a CBIprobe into the case.
Rabiya said "she had strong reasons to suspect that theprobe was carried out by police in a manner to look as if itwas a suicide."
She alleged that Suraj is son of actor Aditya Pancholiand the family used their clout to "manage" police.The petition alleged that Jiah may have been hanged afterbeing killed. It cited reasons to support this theory.
The petition argued that a person who commits suicidewould have his or her eyes popping and tongue protruding out,while in case of Jiah it was not so. Also, in such cases lungor brain hemorrhage is generally noticed but in this case thiswas not observed.
The petition said that besides ligature marks that occurin death due to hanging, injury marks were noticed on face andbody of the actor. An injury was noticed on right side of herlips and a mark on her left arm as if someone had held hertightly.
While police claimed that Jiah had hanged herself witha muslin dupatta, forensic expert Dr R N Jerajani opinedthat the depth of ligature marks in Jiah's case was difficultto achieve with a soft material.
Dr Jerajani opined that ligature marks on Jiah's neckwere not the ones which are usually found on the body of aperson who hangs self from a ceiling fan. The possibility ofstrangulation is not ruled out in this case, he said in theforensic report.
The petition further said that CCTV camera showed Jiahhad entered her house a few minutes before she committedsuicide. At that time, she was wearing a track suit but herbody was discovered in a night gown. Would a person about tocommit suicide change her dress, the petition asked?
It said that the ceiling fan was located in betweentwo single beds and it was not possible for Jiah to hangherself without a stool and there was no stool in her house.On June 3, Jiah was found hanging from her ceiling fanin the house. A week later, Suraj was arrested. He wasreleased from jail on July 2 after the Bombay High Courtgranted him bail.
