The family of a British Bollywood star found hanged in Mumbai have vowed to fight for justice after her death was ruled a suicide despite evidence she was murdered.
Jiah Khan, 25, was found by her mother Rabbiya at the apartment they shared in the Indian city in June 2013.
No suicide note was found, and the actress’ family believe her death was suspicious even after a court concluded she killed herself.
Her sisters and mother have now said they will continue to fight for what they perceive as the truth.
Bollywood actress Jiah Khan at Shantanu and Nikhil Studio at Bandra back in 2009. She was found hanged in 2013
Funeral of Bollywood actress Jiah Khan, who was judged to have committed suicide at her Mumbai home
Sister Kavita, 25, who lives in London, told The Guardian: ‘We knew she couldn’t have done it.
‘At first we simply trusted the police. We thought they would uncover what had really happened, and who had done this to her.’
Jiah Khan’s family have regularly pointed the finger at her boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi, son of actor Aditya Pancholi, who was cleared of any involvement a month after her death on June 3 four years ago.
He hit his girlfriend’s family with a £12milion defamation lawsuit after being repeatedly blamed for her death.
Sooraj insisted Jiah had been ’emotionally unstable’ and had previously tried to kill herself.
Rabbiya has been relentless in her questioning the authorities’ version of events, and in an open letter to the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she claimed officials ‘deliberately distorted certain information’.
‘All forensic evidence strongly suggests that Jiah was murdered and then hanged to make it look like suicide,’ she said.
‘I won’t rest until the truth comes to the surface.’
The tracksuit Jiah was seen wearing 30 minutes before she died was never recovered and no fingerprints were found at the scene.
The duppatta scarf which was used as a noose also went missing, and experts believe the severe neck injuries could never have been caused by the flimsy material.
Nevertheless, the court ruled out murder and said the evidence pointed to a suicide.
Jiah Khan, 23, was a Bollywood star but her death has been shrouded in controversy for years
Actor Sooraj Pancholi with his mother Zarina Wahab coming out of Author Road jail after the Bombay High Court granted him bail on July 2, 2013 in Mumbai, India. He has since been exonerated from any wrong-doing in the death of his girlfriend
Jiah was born Nafisa Rizvi Khan, in New York and moved with her mother to London when she was two.
Following Mrs Khan’s divorce from American Indian father Ali Rizvi Khan, Jiah and her younger sisters grew up in Chelsea, attending More House School in Knightsbridge, which now charges £5,300 a term.
At 17 she was offered a place on a drama course at the Lee Strasberg Film Institute in New York.
While on holiday as an 18-year-old she was approached by a Bollywood director, Ram Gopal Verma, who cast her as a teenager in love with her best friend’s father in his film ‘Nishabd’, a remake of American Beauty in 2007.
Nishabd received mixed reviews and did not do well at the Bollywood box office but Khan went on to play supporting roles in two blockbusters, the psychological thriller Ghajini in 2008 and the comedy Housefull, her last role, in 2010.
Bollywood actor Jiah Khan at wedding reception of Bollywood couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza at Grand Hyatt, Kalina on February 4, 2012 in Mumbai
After filming wrapped, Mrs Khan said her daughter had decided to stay in India and while working in Mumbai Jiah met Sooraj.
He was working on his debut film, Hero, at the time and Mrs Khan said her daughter had found it difficult to find her feet in the film industry as she preferred to make meaningful movies, rather than the romantic comedies she was offered.
Mrs Khan claimed Jiah had told her that her relationship with Sooraj had turned violent, but that she thought he would change.
On June 3, 2013, Mrs Khan had spoken to her daughter about her plans to shoot a scene for a film in England.
However, later that evening Mrs Khan returned home to find her daughter’s body.
On the day of her funeral a six-page letter was discovered in Jiah’s diary, supposedly written by the actress before her death, blaming her boyfriend for ruining her life, cheating on her and forcing her to abort their child.
It read: ‘After all the pain, the rape, the abuse, the torture I have seen previously I didn’t deserve this. I didn’t see any love or commitment from you. I just became increasingly scared that you would hurt me mentally or physically.
‘Your life was about partying and women. Mine was you and my work. If I stay here I will crave you and miss you.
‘So, I am kissing my 10-year career and dreams goodbye. I never went with anyone else. I am a loyal person. No other woman will give you as much as I did or love you as much as I did. I can write that in my blood…’
Mrs Khan, who now runs campaign Justice4Jiah, said: ‘She had her suitcases packed and found a flat in Sloane Street.
‘Does that sound like the a suicidal person? Also, if it was a suicide letter, wouldn’t she have put it where it could be found?’
She added: ‘Every word of that letter feels like a knife through my heart, but also gives me strength because it proves my suspicions are justified and between the lines I can hear Jiah calling me to fight for her.’
Bollywood actress Jiah Khan, whose family is fighting for what they perceive to be the truth in her death
On June 3, 2013, Mrs Khan had spoken to her daughter about her plans to shoot a scene for a film in England. However, later that evening Mrs Khan returned home to find her daughter’s body. Pictured is her funeral
Two days later on June 10, Sooraj, the son of Bollywood stars Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was arrested on suspicion of abetting her suicide.
He spent 23 days in prison before being charged and released on bail, with Justice Sadhna Jadhav accepting bail plea that he could not be held responsible for the ‘impulsive’ suicide of the actress.
Sooraj was exonerated from any involvement in the death.