Bollywood actress' suicide shocks family
For the beautiful U.S.-born, UK-raised Indian actress Jiah Khan, it became a reality when she was still a teenager.
Driven by ambition and
discipline, Khan rose through the ranks of a notoriously cut-throat
industry for 10 years, acting in blockbuster films like "Ghajini" and
"Housefull."
However, what seemed to
be a glittering career ended in tragedy last week when Khan's mother
found her body hanging in her Mumbai home. Police told journalists they
are treating the 25-year-old's death as suicide.
The film industry is in shock.
"She had the naturalness
that does not come easy for a first timer... I am distraught that she
ended her life," blogged Amitabh Bachchan, who starred in her debut
film.
"Never ever seen a
debutante actress with more spunk and more spirit than Jiah when I was
directing her," tweeted veteran filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma.
While scandal and intrigue is common in Bollywood, suicide is rare.
Some in the industry are now beginning to ask what could have driven someone with so much potential to such despair.
On Monday, Khan's mother gave the police what appears to be Khan's suicide note, police said at a news conference.
Addressing an unnamed
person -- possibly her boyfriend -- Khan wrote: "If you are reading this
I might have already left or about to leave. I am broken inside. You
may not have known this but you affected me deeply to a point where I
lost myself in loving you. Yet you torture me everyday."
Suraj Pancholi, the
21-year-old son of Bollywood actor Aditya Pancholi, was Khan's
boyfriend. He has since been arrested by Indian police on suspicion of
abetting her suicide.
The note added: "Things
were looking up for me here, but is it worth it when you constantly feel
the pain of heartbreak, when the person you love wants to abuse you or
threatens to hit you or cheats on you...throws you out of their house
when you have nowhere to go?"
Khan also claims in the
note she was forced to have an abortion. "I was scared of getting
pregnant but I gave myself completely. The pain you have caused me
everyday had destroyed every bit of me, destroyed my soul... I aborted
our baby when it hurt me deeply."
Pancholi attended Khan's funeral along with many other Bollywood stars.
It is unclear if he will
be prosecuted. In past rulings the Indian Supreme Court has said that
to convict a person for abetting suicide, it has to be shown that they
instigated it.
Pancholi has not responded publicly but his mother spoke to local media denying the charges.
Meanwhile, Khan's mother says she is determined to fight for justice.
Speaking to CNN's sister
network CNN-IBN, she said: "He hit my daughter, he tortured her. I saw
bruises on her body. I saw the pain and humiliation she must have gone
through. The evidence is with the police. She did not have any emptiness
in her life. I am angry, I am in pain."
Khan appeared in three films, two of them blockbusters, but she hadn't been in a movie since 2010
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