"Have won my dignity and confidence": Sooraj Pancholi after court finds him no guilty in Jiah Khan death case

Sooraj Pancholi on Friday was acquitted by a special CBI court in Jiah Khan death case due to lack of evidence. Hours after relief from the court, the Bollywood actor issued an official statement and mentioned that he has finally won his ‘dignity and confidence’ back. Earlier in the day, Sooraj also took to his Instagram Story and shared, “The truth always wins.” Sooraj was present in the court along with his mother, veteran actress Zarina Wahab. Jia’s mother Rabia Khan has said that she will not give up hope and approach higher.“The Verdict has taken 10 long painful years and sleepless nights, But today I have not only won this case against me but I have also won my dignity and confidence back, it took a lot of courage to face the world with such heinous allegations, I hope and pray to God that nobody goes through what I have gone through at such a young age, I don’t know who will give me these 10 years of my life back to me, but I am glad that this has finally come to an end not only for me but specially for my family. There is nothing bigger than peace in this world,” Sooraj Pancholi’s official statement read.

Sooraj (32), who was reportedly in a relationship with the actress, got accused of abetting the suicide of Jiah Khan based on a six-page letter seized on June 10, which was purportedly written by the 25-year-old, who was found hanging at her residence. As per the Central Bureau of Investigation, the letter, which was seized by Mumbai police that began its probe on June 10, 2013, was written by Jiah Khan. The Mumbai Police booked Sooraj under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) and arrested him in June 2013, and released him on bail in July 2013. The CBI claimed the note narrated her 'intimate relationship, physical abuse and mental and physical torture' allegedly at the hands of Pancholi, which led to her committing suicide. The case was reassigned to a special CBI court in 2021 after the sessions court said it did not have the jurisdiction over the case as the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had probed it.Jiah Khan's mother Rabia Khan, a key prosecution witness in the case, told the court she believed it was a case of murder and not suicide. She alleged that her daughter was murdered, and in October 2013, she moved to Bombay High Court seeking a CBI probe in the case while alleging that her daughter had been murdered. During her deposition, Rabia Khan had told the CBI court Pancholi used to subject Jiah Khan to physical and verbal abuse. She also alleged the police and CBI had not collected legal evidence to prove her daughter had committed suicide.