The latest foreign development in the Jiah Khan suicide case is to be noted

There has been a new development in the Jiah Khan suicide case from foreign shores. According to a UK report, the suicide was staged and the marks on her face and neck prove that it was not a suicide, but a murder. The expert in question, Jason Payne-James was hired by Jiah’s mother Rabia on the grounds of CBI’s version ruling out the possibility of a murder.

It was just a month back that the CBI report had ruled out murder and Rabia was not pleased with the report. Payne-James said that the injuries “represent either abrasions or bruises”, and are indicative of “blunt force trauma to the mouth region (for example punching or a hand placed over the mouth). In terms of their site and appearance, they are not typical of teeth marks. The ligature marks on Jiah’s neck “may be caused due to slippage of ligature material [dupatta] slightly downwards or the ligature knot present at that site. It would seem unlikely that the diffuse pressure of the dupatta around the neck would cause the well-defined abraded ligature mark seen. I would have expected any forensic specialist to have insisted on seeing the dupatta. I do not see that there is any realistic possibility of the dupatta creating the patterned injury under the chin. Other causes or objects should have been considered such as a blunt impact from a patterned object, or a ligature made of different material. I do not believe that the possibility of a staged hanging after death that has been caused previously has been properly considered (e.g. ligature strangulation with some other material and then Nafisa Khan being ‘hung’ with the dupatta). The marks on the left arm and the lower lip are consistent with assaultive injuries… the marks of ligature and the mark on the chin are not consistent with simple hanging with the dupatta.”

Payne-James says that the Indian experts didn’t do thorough examination of the case. He said, “There are a number of serious misinterpretations (or exclusions of reasonable inferences) of the medical evidence, and that the apparent intention to attribute her death to suicide may mean that the real possibility of a staged hanging subsequent to earlier death at the hands of another has been missed.”

Rabia’s counsel Dinesh Tiwari also said that the Indian forensic reports were inappropriate. “We will approach the court to take these findings into consideration”, he said.

Sooraj Pancholi’s father, Aditya Pancholi turned defensive and said, “This report is from a private forensic lab and it’s paid. We will see if a court admits it or not. The investigations have been done by different agencies and all of them have come to the same conclusion [that it was a suicide].”

Actor Sooraj Pancholi who was in a relationship with Jiah Khan is accused with abetment to suicide. But, with CBI’s version of the report, Pancholi family seemed to be a bit relaxed. Now with these new developments that are contradictory, we are wondering where the case will be headed to from here.

ALSO READ: Rabia Khan is horrified by CBI’s version of Jiah Khan’s death

Prajakta Ajgaonkar

Passionate about writing, and a Bollywood lover, she is all that is sweet and endearing! She desires to put her best foot forward in everything that she does and loves to help anyone who’s in need.