Jiah found hanging at home

The Telegraph

Jiah Khan

Mumbai, June 4: Twenty-five-year-old actress Nafisa alias Jiah Khan, who made a dream debut opposite Amitabh Bachchan but had no work since her last release in 2010, was found dead in her flat in Juhu.

She was found hanging from a ceiling fan by her mother Rabiya Amin, a yesteryear actress, around 11.30 last night. Jiah had used a dupatta to hang herself. No suicide note was found, said Juhu police, who registered a case of accidental death.

The police today questioned Sooraj Panscholi, the son of actor Aditya Panscholi, for nearly four hours at the Juhu police station in connection with his relationship with Jiah and the circumstances leading to her death.

“Her call records showed that Sooraj and Jiah had spoken to each other at 10.53pm. We are still trying to ascertain the details of the final conversation between Sooraj and her and whether it had anything to do with her suicide,” a senior police officer said.

The police also found text messages exchanged between the duo, who had dated till last month when their relationship soured. In the messages, Jiah apparently asked Sooraj about his proximity to another woman and he denied he was having an affair, sources said.

Mother Rabiya, who starred in films in the 1980s, told the police that Jiah, whose website said she was a graduate of the Lee Strausberg acting school, had been depressed as her career had stalled.

After failing to get any Hindi film, Jiah had appeared in screen tests for Tamil and Telegu films. She was told to increase her weight if she wanted to appear in south Indian films but she had refused.

Born in the US and raised in London, Jiah shot into the limelight in 2007 when Ram Gopal Varma cast her opposite Bachchan in Nishabd. In 2008, she featured in Aamir Khan’s Ghajini. Her last release was Housefull in 2010.