Jiah Khan death case: Mother writes to PM, slams CBI's investigation

Mumbai: In an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jiah Khan's mother Rabia Khan on Monday asked for justice and bashed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for its incompetence.

"For some reason, the CBI was reluctant to take over the case from the beginning, and in 15 months of delay in their findings, the CBI investigation got compromised. It would be an insult to the capabilities of the CBI to say that the CBI just failed to conduct a proper investigation," said the letter written by Rabia Khan.

She further wrote that there is no doubt that the CBI has all the powers and skills required to get to the bottom of Jiah Khan's death.

"But somehow, the CBI investigation went off track, for reasons best known to them. Instead, the CBI's own independent forensic expert opinion is inconclusive and does not rule out either homicide or suicide," the grieving mother wrote in her letter.

She also claimed that the CBI had simply recycled the "already compromised" information provided by the Juhu Police, adding that the worst is in their own report, they deliberately "distorted" certain information.

"I am a British citizen, the mother of Jiah Khan, who was murdered in India - Mumbai on June 3, 2013. It has been four years now that I have been persistently fighting for justice. All the forensic evidence that I have obtained from experts in India and England is pointing towards homicide," she wrote.

Rabia Khan also wrote that the analysis of the forensic experts shows that the injuries on actress Jiah Khan's body are inconsistent with the alleged suicidal hanging where all forensic evidence strongly suggests that she was murdered and then hanged to make it look like a suicide.

"The Hon'ble Bombay High Court, in July 2014, transferred the investigation to the CBI with a clear mandate to find out whether my daughter's death was homicidal or suicidal, and if it was found to be homicidal, to launch a further investigation and take appropriate action," Rabia's letter said.

Rabia further said that anyone looking at the actual facts in the case can realise that the case has been heavily "managed".

Targetting actor Aditya Pancholi and his son Sooraj Pancholi, who is the main accused, Rabia wrote, "It is not my task to speculate about the police's and the CBI's motivation, but a connection and the influence of the accused father Aditya Pancholi would not be too far-fetched."

Rabia Khan further said that the forensic expert, Jason Payne James, in his report, clearly stated that this appears to be a "staged homicide."

"I approached the Hon'ble High Court earlier this year with all the relevant grievances and expert reports requesting reinvestigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT). The CBI opposed, but the Hon'ble High Court noted in its order that all the points raised in my petition can be submitted to the trial court," Rabia said.

Rabia Khan said that she had submitted her application to the trial court through the state-appointed Special Public Prosecutor Dinesh Tiwari, who knows the history of this case from the beginning.

"Following this submission, the CBI has been trying to remove SPP Tiwari and to replace him with one of its own prosecutors, who has no knowledge about the case and has been displaying a hostile attitude towards me," she claimed in her letter.

Khan said that recently, when her application to submit key evidence and forensic expert reports was argued in the trial court, the CBI, along with the accused, strongly opposed their recognition by the court.

"Now the main point is that if the CBI, who has joined hands with the accused, is not with the victim and not willing to cooperate with me, then how is justice going to be served," Rabya Khan stated in her letter.

"I fail to write in words my pain and grief. I expect answers to my daughter's death. May God guide you and help us to get justice," she wrote.

She further said that God has placed the Prime Minister on high position to help her against injustice.

Rabia, on April 20, claimed that she has the capacity of evidence to prove that her daughter's suicide was a murder.

The step has come after the petition filed by Jiah's mother, was withdrawn after the apex court refused to intervene in Bombay High Court's order, which denied a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the matter.

Rabia had moved the Supreme Court as her plea seeking an SIT was rejected by the Bombay High Court on February 9.

Jiah was found hanging in her room on June 3, 2013.

A week later, the Juhu police had arrested Sooraj Pancholi on charges of abetment to suicide.

The CBI took over the probe from the Maharashtra Police on the Bombay High Court's orders. Rabia Khan had moved the High Court, alleging that her daughter had been murdered and demanding that the CBI probe the matter.