Jiah Khan's suicide case: Actor Suraj Pancholi gets bail

July 1, 2013

Suraj_PancholiMumbai, Jul 1: The Bombay high court on Monday granted bail to Suraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, while observing that he cannot be held solely responsible for the "impulsive" act of suicide committed by actress Jiah Khan.

"No doubt that it was an unfortunate incident that a young girl has committed suicide. She (Jiah) must have been impulsive and he (Suraj) cannot be held solely responsible for it," Justice Sadhna Jadhav said.

Suraj, 22, arrested on June 10, has been granted bail on a surety of Rs 50,000. The court has directed him to surrender his passport and appear before the Juhu police every alternate day.

The court also observed that the letter, purportedly written by Jiah and recovered from her house, could not be taken as a suicide note as it is not addressed to anyone and is not dated.

"The question is if the script recovered from the deceased's house is addressed to the applicant (Suraj) or is it just extracts from her diary? Whether it can be called suicide note at all? When there is no date on it can it be linked to the day she committed suicide? " the court queried.

It added that the letter written by Jiah never reached the applicant.

"Therefore it cannot be said that the emotions expressed in the letter ever reached the applicant," Justice Jadhav said.

The court also held that Suraj never nurtured an intent or "mens rea" (motive) to push the girl to commit suicide.

"She was in the relationship on her own volition. It all depends on the pscyhe of the person. It cannot be ignored that Jiah had suicidal tendencies. Earlier also she had attempted suicide and it was the applicant who took care of her," Justice Jadhav said, adding that the deceased's mother was not even aware of this incident.

The court further said that it was clear that the deceased was extremely possessive of the applicant, who was focusing on his career and hence could not give much time to Jiah.

"It also appears that on the day of the incident there was some misunderstanding between the deceased and applicant due to which Jiah was in a rage of fury," the court said.

Observing that a 22-year-old boy has been in jail for 21 days and that there was no need for further incarceration, the court granted bail to Suraj.

He had moved the high court on June 26 seeking bail in the case, after a sessions court had earlier rejected his bail plea, saying that prima facie Jiah had been mentally abused by Suraj.

He was arrested on the basis of a letter, purportedly written by Jiah, which was found by her mother Rabiyah Khan and her sister from Jiah's bedroom a few days after she hung herself from the ceiling fan on June 3.

In the letter, Jiah mentioned how she was mentally harassed by Suraj and how she had undergone an abortion.

Suraj, lodged in Arthur Road prison in central Mumbai, had said in his bail plea that he and Jiah were in a consensual relationship and the letter was being misused by Rabiyah.

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News Network
January 8,2020

Jan 8: Bollywood star Deepika Padukone on Tuesday visited the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) to express solidarity with the students who were attacked by a mob, but she did not address the crowd.

The actor reached the university campus at around 7.40 pm and attended a public meeting, called by JNU Teacher's Association and JNUSU in response to Sunday's attack on students and teachers by a masked mob armed with sticks and rods.

Deepika stood as former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was raising azaadi slogans and left by the time current president Aishe Ghosh started speaking.

The actor's decision to not address the crowd prompted Ghosh to comment, "when you are in a position, you should speak up".

"There are many people in Bollywood who do not put forth their views when they are not be aired. They are considered role models. I appeal to them: Make inspiring films after something has happened but when you are in that position, also talk about the story that is currently happening," she said.

Later, Ghosh said that Deepika expressed solidarity with the JNU students.

Deepika is in the capital to promote her upcoming release, Meghna Gulzar-directed "Chhapaak".

On Monday, the 34-year-old actor told a news channel that she feels proud that people have come out and raised their voice without fear, in reference to the protests against the amended Citizenship Act, the National Register of Citizens and violence in JNU.

"I feel proud to see that we aren't scared to express ourselves... I think the fact that we are thinking about the country and its future.... Whatever may be our point of view, it's nice to see," Deepika told NDTV India.

"I feel proud about it that people are coming out -- be it on the streets or wherever they are -- they are raising their voice and expressing themselves as it is important. If we want to see a change in life and society, it is important that a point of view be put forward," she added.

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News Network
May 18,2020

Washington, May 18: Joining hands with the European Commission, actor Leonardo DiCaprio launched the Virunga Fund with seed money of USD 2 million to support Africa's Virunga National Park.

Since Virunga has lost a significant amount of revenue due to COVID shutdown post-March, the fund will be used to support the national park and the communities around, reported Variety.

The fund is aimed at disease prevention efforts, protection of mountain gorilla, and other species.

"I had the great honor of meeting and supporting Virunga's courageous team in their fight against illegal oil drilling in 2013," Variety quoted DiCaprio as saying.

"Virunga urgently needs funds to protect the endangered mountain gorilla population, to provide support to the rangers and the families of rangers who have fallen in the line of duty, and to help deliver essential disease prevention efforts. It's critical that we rally together during this time of incredible crisis," he added.

The 'Titanic' actor had earlier produced a Netflix documentary film 'Virunga' which is based on the national park.

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News Network
July 3,2020

Mumbai, Jun 3: Investigators will subject the cloth allegedly used by actor Sushant Singh Rajput to hang himself to "tensile strength" analysis to determine whether it can bear the weight similar to that of the filmstar, as part of probe into his death, an official said on Friday.

Rajput (34) was found hanging at his suburban Bandra residence on June 14.

According to the investigators, the actor ended his life by hanging himself from the ceiling using a green coloured night gown made of cotton.

No suicide note was found from the spot, the police had said then.

Besides viscera from the actors body, the police also sent the gown for chemical and forensic analysis at the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in suburban Kalina, he said.

It will take at least three more days to get final forensic report, the official said.

To ascertain the exact cause of death, forensic experts will check pattern of ligature marks around the actors neck and also determine the strength of the gown with the help of "tensile strength" analysis, he said.

The tensile strength test will technically establish whether the cloth can bear around 80kg, the weight of the actor, he said.

The test will help determine if there was any foul play, the official said.

Tensile strength is maximum load that a material can support without fracture when being stretched.

Viscera analysis will help in checking whether there were any traces of chemical, poisonous or narcotics substance in his body, the official said.

"Usually, it takes eight to ten working days to get s report from the FSL in regular cases. But since this case is sensitive, experts are taking more precautions to avoid any kind of error in their analysis," the official said.

The forensic report of the actors mobile phone is also awaited, he said.

Recently, the police received the final post-mortem report of the actor from Cooper Hospital, which mentioned the cause of the death as asphyxia due to hanging"

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