‘My only hope is someone will listen’

“An independent medical professional we consulted told us that both of Jiah’s lungs had collapsed. This only happens when there is some external pressure,” she said. Rabya added that the police had also failed to explain injuries found on Jiah’s face. “The night before, there were no injuries on her face. How did she get bruises on her face? The police has made no note of this,” she said. “On December 29, 2012, Jiah, who was in Goa with Sooraj had tweeted, “Why are men so savage? She then sent me a picture of a big bruise on her knee. That is the day she told me that Sooraj had been hitting her,” Rabya said.

She added that further abuse  came to light when Jiah went to a salon to prepare for a photo shoot in March last year. “The employees told me that she intially refused to take off her sunglasses. When she did so after persuasion, there were bruises under her eyes and on her forehead,” she said.

Rabya broke down several times during the interview Wednesday in the Fort office of her lawyer Dinesh Tiwari.

In her own words, she had woken up to news that the Juhu police station had filed a chargesheet, charging her former boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi with abetment. “Everywhere I go, people tell me that I should give up and no one in power will listen. But my only hope is that someone will listen,” she said.

Sooraj’s claim
Sooraj’s statement indicates there were disagreements between him and Jiah the day she killed herself. As Sooraj could not call her because he was busy, she sent him a message asking “why are you been cold (sic)”, to which he replied that he was busy. When Sooraj learnt that she wanted to tell him about a three-film contract that she had got, he apologised for not being able to call. The duo had some misunderstanding over the subsequent text messages and  Sooraj, who was angry with Jiah for doubting him, sent her a message saying that he did not want to talk to her or even see her. The next thing Sooraj heard about Jiah was that she had committed suicide.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia..com

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