Sooraj Pancholi acquitted in Jiah Khan suicide case: ‘I have won my dignity and confidence back’

Actor Sooraj Pancholi - the rumored boyfriend of the late actress Jiah Khan who died by suicide on June 3, 2013 - has been cleared by a special CBI court in Mumbai of abetment charges in the case. After the verdict was announced, the actor said in a statement that he has gained his dignity back.

Sooraj’s mother, actress Zarina Wahab, accompanied him to the court on Thursday. Special CBI court judge AS Sayyed heard both sides and reserved his verdict on the case. He noted, “Due to paucity of evidence, Sooraj Pancholi is acquitted.”

Later in a statement, Sooraj said, “The verdict has taken 10 long painful years and sleepless nights. But today I have not only won this case against me, but I have also won my dignity and confidence back. It took a lot of courage to face the world with such heinous allegations.”

He said that he hopes and prays to god that nobody goes through what he had gone through at such a young age. “I don’t know who will give these 10 years of my life back to me. But I am glad that this has finally come to an end not only for me but also for my family. There is nothing bigger than peace in this world,” he elaborated.

After a successful career as a model, Jiah made her Bollywood debut in 2007 with the film Nishabd, where she shared screen space with Amitabh Bachchan. Later, she also appeared in the Aamir Khan-starrer Ghajini and in Housefull. 

Sooraj, on the other hand, made his Bollywood debut in 2015 with the film Hero, produced by Salman Khan.He continued acting in films like Satellite Shankar, Time to Dance. He is also part of Hawa Singh, which will be released soon.