Jiah Khan’s death: Memorial service in London

A year after Bollywood actress Jiah Khan was found dead and hanging at her Mumbai residence, a memorial service will be held here Tuesday, with her mother, family and friends in attendance.

“A memorial service will be held in Jiah’s memory at the Chelsea Town Hall attended by Jiah’s friends and family, including her mother Rabiyya Amin, who has campaigned tirelessly over the past 12 months to unearth the truth behind Jiah’s death,” read a mailer.

The service for the actress, who grew up in Chelsea, will be held Tuesday evening.

The New York-born Jiah – who acted in a blockbuster like “Ghajini”, was 25 when she was found hanging in her Juhu flat late on June 3, 2013. Her sudden death continues to remain a mystery, and her mother has vowed to keep the “battle going on”.

“I shall keep the battle going all the way until I get to the root of the truth. Although it’s been a year, to me, it seems like yesterday,” said Rabbiya.

Jiah’s alleged suicide was initially attributed to a lack of assignments, but it was alleged that she was going through a troubled phase in her relationship with actor Aditya Pancholi’s son Sooraj.

Her mother accused Sooraj of abetting Jiah’s ‘suicide’ after the family recovered a letter penned by the “Nishabd” actress. Sooraj was also taken into custody, and was interrogated in the case, but eventually he was released on bail.

But Rabbiya has still not left hope of getting justice for her daughter.

“They are delaying to sabotage and compromise the crucial evidence. Jiah’s mother’s long fight for justice will not stop until truth is revealed,” Rabbiya said.

In her latest attempt, she has sought the help of the British police to investigate her daughter’s death. She has written to Foreign Secretary William Hague to help bring about justice for her daughter, reports dailymail.co.uk.

She has urged British police to launch a probe into the case, which is currently at the centre of a Bombay High Court hearing.

Rabbiya earlier also approached US Ambassador to India Nancy Powell to ask that the Federal Bureau of Investigation assist in the investigation.

Jiah was born as Nafisa Rizvi Khan in New York and moved with her mother to London when she was two-year-old.

When she was 17, she was offered a place on a drama course at the Lee Strasberg Film Institute in New York.

While on holiday as an 18-year-old, she was approached by Indian filmmaker Ram Gopal Verma, who cast her as a teenager in love with her best friend’s father in his 2007 film “Nishabd”.
Inputs by IANS