Friends taken by surprise, believe lack of work could be responsible

The family and friends of actor Jiah Khan are in a state of shock after they heard she ended her life.

The family and friends of actor Jiah Khan are in a state of shock after they heard she ended her life.

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Mahesh Bhatt, who gave Jiah her first break in his film ‘Tumsa Nahin Dekha’, which she later backed out of, visited the family at their Juhu residence on Tuesday afternoon. He said Jiah was a “talented child” and that depression had killed her, adding that it was a tragic end to a very promising talent.

Jiah was raised in London, where one of her sister lives. She was living with her mother in Juhu, while her other sister also resides in Mumbai.

“Her mother is devastated and has been crying inconsolably. It feels like death to a mother to see her own child hanging from the ceiling. She is shocked and struggling to come to terms with the fact that her daughter is no more,” said Bhatt. Actor Raza Murad, who also visited the family, said Jiah had the qualities of a star, but did not attain the status she deserved. “In the film industry, you are under constant pressure. There is pressure to perform and pressure to constantly find work. Although it is too early to draw conclusions, I believe it was the latter that killed Jiah.”

Khan's body was brought to Cooper Hospital on Tuesday afternoon after an autopsy was conducted at JJ hospital.

A family friend who came to visit Jiah's family said, “I have known Rabea [Jiah's mother] for around 40 years. I was surfing the Internet when I came across the news. Jiah was an affable girl.”

It was at around 12.30am when the news of Jiah’s suicide spread in her Juhu locality. Beena Dholakia, 54, was one of the few locals who gathered outside her building. “My friend who resides on the first floor alongside Jiah told me about it. She did not mix with her neighbours and kept to herself. It is sad to see someone so young end her life,” Dholakia said.