The Bombay High Court on Wednesday instructed the police to reopen the case of Jiah Khan's death, following her mother's allegation that the actor had not ended her life but was murdered.
Jiah's mother Rabia Khan had moved a petition on October 1 demanding a CBI probe into the death of her daughter, whose body was found hanging from a ceiling fan at her residence in June this year.
Jiah's estranged boyfriend Suraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, was taken into custody on charges of abetting suicide after Rabia alleged that he drove her to take the drastic step. Suraj was later granted bail by the Bombay High Court.
Rabia, in her petition to the Bombay High Court, attached an independent forensic report prepared by Dr R N Jerajani, who stated that a person who dies by hanging usually has his or her eyes protruding, and experiences significant haemorrhage in the brain and lungs.
The petition states that both these factors were absent in Jiah's case, and even the depth of ligature on her neck points a finger towards the possibility of strangulation.
Dr Jerajani also stated that there were ante-mortem injury marks on the right side of her lips and on her left arm.
On Wednesday, Justices S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel, while ruling out the demand for a CBI probe, asked the Juhu police to reopen the case and record Rabia Khan's statement on Saturday.
However, while disposing of the matter, the court added, “If fresh investigations throw up any new incriminating evidence pointing towards the possibility of murder, the police can file an additional charge sheet in the case.”
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