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Jiah Khan’s mother Rabya on Sooraj Pancholi’s acquittal: They want me to get tired, but I will continue my fight
Late actor Jiah Khan’s mother, Rabya Khan, talks about actor Sooraj Pancholi’s acquittal, and her plans going forward seeking justice in her daughter’s suicide case.
The special CBI court in Mumbai, on Friday, acquitted actor Sooraj Pancholi from charges of abetting actor Jiah Khan’s suicide. But, the late actor’s mother, Rabya Khan isn’t ready to accept this verdict, and has decided to continue her fight, and appeal to the higher court now. She says she never put the said charge on Sooraj, and always wanted an investigation on who murdered her daughter.
On Friday, the court said there was no evidence to prove that Sooraj had abetted Jiah’s suicide, and gave the verdict that he is not guilty of abetment.
“The judgement is not unfair. I was not shocked. The CBI should have done this a long time back. From day one, I have been saying that it is a wrong charge to put, and it took them 10 years to find that there is evidence for the same. They should have changed the charges and put section 302 (punishment for murder) charges, which I have been saying since the beginning. Now, the path is clear for me to take forward my fight,” retorts Rabya.
On June 3, 2013, Jiah was found dead at her home in Juhu, Mumbai. A six-page suicide note allegedly penned by her was recovered, where she narrated her “intimate relationship, physical abuse and mental and physical torture” allegedly at the hands of Sooraj.
“Suicide nahi toh kya? Who killed her is the question here,” asks Rabya, determined to continue her battle to find the answers.
“The court and the prosecutor should be asking this question. When they didn’t find the evidence, they should have asked this [question]. My daughter was not the one to get influenced. She was not a weak person. If it is a murder, they need to find the culprit. They took 10 years [to reach this verdict], and now they will make me run for another 10 years fighting the murder case. I am ready to fight it out till the end of my breath because of the love for my daughter, which is my biggest strength,” she says, adding that she is disappointed with the agencies claiming that they have “made a fool of people”.
Planning her next move, Rabya has already started working on the paperwork to appeal to the higher court. “I’ll do whatever it takes to get my baby justice. It is their job to find who killed my daughter. They must have thought I would get tired after the 10 year fight. But I am not tired. I will fight. I have been saying that my child was murdered. Now, the court has got the suicide angle out of the park, which brings clarity to me,” she says.
Rabya also reveals that people don’t look at her as a mother fighting for the justice of her daughter, but someone who is seeking revenge.
“I am not so big that I will do all this. I just want to get justice for my daughter. People look at me as a criminal, not a mother who is fighting for her kid. I just hope I get the strength to continue, which I get after seeing how my Jiah continues to get loved and remembered,” she notes.
Opening up about the emotions she goes through when she looks at Sooraj, Rabya says, “I never left angry after looking at him, but feel bad for him. Mujhe sirf taras hi aata hai, thinking what a waste of life, waste of talent, waste of youth, and what a waste of everything.”
