Four years after Jiah Khan’s death, family still looking for answers

Jiah​ ​Khan,​ 25, ​one​ ​of​ ​the​ ​rising​ ​film​ ​stars​ ​of​ ​Bollywood, was found dead in her family apartment in Mumbai four years ago. The question of whether it was suicide or murder has now pitted two of Bollywood’s leading families against each other. Her family is still pushing for a conclusive investigation. The family of the former Bollywood star, who was found hanging dead from a ceiling fan, say they, “won’t rest until the truth comes to the surface.” The British-American actress and singer appeared in three Hindi films from 2007 to 2010 including blockbuster hits like Ghajini and Housefull. She was found dead within hours of sending excited emojis to her little sister, Kavita, who was due to arrive in Mumbai from Heathrow on the same night. Khan’s boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, was taken into police custody during the investigation of her death. The Bombay High Court granted him bail the following month. Khan was discovered hanging in the bedroom of her family’s Indian residence in Mumbai shortly before midnight on June 2013. Her mother, Rabbiya, found her when her body was still warm. But four years after her daughter’s tragic death, Jiah's mother refuses to believe Jiah committed suicide. The narrative of a depressed young female who was struggling with the pressures of being an actress does not match with those who knew her best. And after four years, the circumstances surrounding Jiah’s death are murkier than ever. “We knew she couldn’t have done it,” Kavita, Jiah’s younger sister, now 25, told Guardian, from her parents’ London address. “At first we simply trusted the police. We thought they would uncover what had really happened, and who had done this to her.” Rabbiya wrote an open letter to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in September and alleged that CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) officials had, “deliberately distorted certain information.” She wrote: “All forensic evidence strongly suggests that Jiah was murdered and then hanged to make it look like a suicide.” CBI ruled her death as “suicide by hanging” in their investigation report. Khan independently hired British forensics expert Jason Payne-James to look into her daughter’s death and he concluded in a report in September 2016 that Jiah Khan’s hanging was staged and the marks on her face and neck indicated it was not suicide. According to Kavita and Rabbiya, Jiah had planned to spend the evening watching Game of Thrones until her sister arrived from the airport at 3am. She bought jewellery for her younger sister Kavita as a welcome home gift and had texted her “non-stop” until her plane took off from Heathrow. Khan’s family told Guardian that they will keep pushing for a conclusive investigation.