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Death in Bollywood

58 replies

Happylittlethoughts · 13/01/2021 16:37

I'm watching episodes 1 and 2 and I'm hooked. A great documentary for amateur sleuths.
Poor Jiah seems caught between a questionable boyfriend and a high pressure mother. I'm changing my mind frequently on what happened that night!
Anyone else watching? What do you think happened? Missing evidence? History of MH issues?
It reminds me very much of Oscar Pistorius case.

OP posts:
Original poster
Happylittlethoughts · 16/01/2021 17:35

There were clearly issues with her boyfriend and he showed clear signs of lying, through body language , when asked about violence in his relationships. She was let down by everyone I think .

OP posts:
ageingdisgracefully · 16/01/2021 19:42

Very sad. Neither Jiah's family nor Sooraj's came out covered in glory.

I also think it was suicide, perhaps a cry for help gone wrong.

Did I miss something about the suicide note? During the programme I seem to remember that a comparison was made between the writing on the note and another sample of Jiah's writing.... and they were nothing alike? I'm wondering if I imagined it because it seemed to be glossed over. If the note wasn't genuine then it means that the case against Sooraj is substantially weakened. Am I right in thinking the note was found by a family member tucked away in a purse? Hmm.

There's no evidence for murder and there seems to be very little substantial evidence to support the case for abetment to suicide either. But Sooraj's conviction hasnt been quashed, has it?

I think the family have a lot to answer for. The mother groomed Jiah for stardom, knowing what the industry was like. She may well have endorsed the relationship between Jiah and the older man when Jiah was 24. She failed to acknowledge Jiah's mental health issues and continued to push her. Poor Jiah seems to have been the family meal ticket.

No wonder she's pursuing the case against Sooraj so vociferously.

ageingdisgracefully · 16/01/2021 19:43

14ffs.

Meredusoleil · 16/01/2021 21:48

I've watched the first 2 episodes now.

Who is supposed to have raped her aged 14? We only have Sooraj's word for that.

I am thinking that he may well have driven her to suicide by using her to further his career and then dumping her when she started showing signs of insecurity and low self-esteem, which he selfishly, didn't want to have to deal with!

pinbinpin · 16/01/2021 22:03

You need to watche episode 3, it's covered then

purpleme12 · 16/01/2021 22:05

@ageingdisgracefully
I'm sure it said that in the end some police or writing expert said that it was the same person's writing in the end

@Meredusoleil the older person who she had a relationship with was the one who raped her. It said it went to court in England didn't it?

pinbinpin · 16/01/2021 22:13

Yes, according to the sister, some creep picked her up in a Starbucks in London when she was 14 and he was 28. The sister said she was with her at the time and they clearly looked "like children". She said it went to court but was deemed a consensual relationship as she had sent him love letters. I'm not sure how much a believe this account though. Would the courts not convict a 28y old having sex with a 14y old even if the girl thought it was consensual? (and was clearly groomed).

Cosmos123 · 17/01/2021 09:37

It was in the press he was not convicted which is shocking in itself.

To make it worse the father of the accused has contacted the sooraj family in support. Hideous lot.

ageingdisgracefully · 17/01/2021 09:53

Ah ok. I must've missed the bit about the letter having been proven to have been in Jiah's own handwriting.

pinbin I was also wondering about Jiah's age. I think she would have been 14 in 2002, and the law on Statutory Rape did not come in until 2003?

So nowadays Statutory Rape but if the case came to court before 2003 then no grounds to charge the boyfriend with that (disclaimer: I'm not a lawyer).

ElspethFlashman · 17/01/2021 10:09

I read that she had tried to kill herself on 3 separate occasions. And the newspaper cuttings from The Telegraph (?) did seem to recount 2 of them being used in the court case as evidence of her distress. One led to hospitalisation.

But the family wasn't asked about them in the documentary? Thats so bad.

ageingdisgracefully · 17/01/2021 12:04

I think one of the flaws of this documentary was that it relied on sources of information from family members etc. The sources of information will by definition be subjective, and not necessarily factual. It seemed to be more like a Netflix production than a serious BBC 2 documentary.

I've read around the case a bit and concluded that lots of information is probably missing (like the attempted suicides) so what we're left with is a slanging match between the two families, both of whom have a vested interest in presenting their side as "truth".

A sad situation for both sides. Sooraj is still (I understand) one some kind of bail arrangement so he can't move on. There doesn't seem to be much evidence to support murder (despite the involvement of Jason Payne) and in the middle of it all is a rather sad, seemingly vulnerable individual who has needlessly lost her life.

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 16:53

Just finished watching the last episode. Don't understand why Jiah didn't just return to London abs stay in London after her mum repeatedly admitted she didn't want to be on Bollywood anymore?!?

Also, I think Sooraj's dad has a lot to answer for in this story. The whole industry, much like Hollywood, sounds like such a dirty business. Jiah never should have gone out there in the first place. Although it dubds like she was going through a rebellious stage, so probably still would have gone despite people telling her not to go.

Complete disgusted about the 28 year old thing. How the hell he won that case I will never understand. I thought if you were under 16 you can't legally be deemed to give consent? I mean, yes, maybe she lied to him about her age. Lots of girls try to be more grown up than they really are. But seriously 🤦🏻‍♀️

friendlyflicka · 17/01/2021 20:10

Just watched this. I thought it was a very bad documentary. First, showing photos from the post-mortem is horrible.

And, yes, the mother was never confronted about anything and was given free-rein. She kept saying she was reluctant for her daughter to go to Bollywood but from the last episode it was pretty clear she paved the way and pushed her (even though she kept glossing over this). If the boyfriend knew that she was depressed, and had picked up on that historical incident, then it must have been pretty obvious, and the family were just in denial. And with the trial when she was 14 her mother told her it was 'forgotten'. And that was that.

And, maybe the boyfriend was nasty, he didn't particularly come across that way, but I am sure he was no saint. But to string him into this battle for years and years came across as the mother doing everything she could to distance herself from the death of her daughter and lay all involvement neatly away from herself. A way to bury what must be an enormous sense of guilt, as deep as she possibly can. I totally understand that her pain must be enormous, but it is horrible to end another life, effectively, because she can't face her own involvement.

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 20:16

@friendlyflicka

Just watched this. I thought it was a very bad documentary. First, showing photos from the post-mortem is horrible.

And, yes, the mother was never confronted about anything and was given free-rein. She kept saying she was reluctant for her daughter to go to Bollywood but from the last episode it was pretty clear she paved the way and pushed her (even though she kept glossing over this). If the boyfriend knew that she was depressed, and had picked up on that historical incident, then it must have been pretty obvious, and the family were just in denial. And with the trial when she was 14 her mother told her it was 'forgotten'. And that was that.

And, maybe the boyfriend was nasty, he didn't particularly come across that way, but I am sure he was no saint. But to string him into this battle for years and years came across as the mother doing everything she could to distance herself from the death of her daughter and lay all involvement neatly away from herself. A way to bury what must be an enormous sense of guilt, as deep as she possibly can. I totally understand that her pain must be enormous, but it is horrible to end another life, effectively, because she can't face her own involvement.

Yes I too found Rabia's comment to Jiah that the rape and trial etc were forgotten and they never spoke about it afterwards a bit of a shocker and also very sad. Maybe that was the start of her depression? When was it she was supposed to have tried to commit suicide before? It wasn't clear.
friendlyflicka · 17/01/2021 21:40

I thought she tried to kill herself after the trial and was very depressed and stopped going out...

I don't think her mother was necessarily acting badly about the trial and not implying that is why she died, but I do think her mother is acting badly in leaving the boyfriend totally in limbo and denying her daughter had suffered before he arrived.

purpleme12 · 17/01/2021 21:41

So why has Sooraj not been released from bail then?
Is it because Rabia keeps trying to bring the case to court again?
Not really au fait with how legal stuff works

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 21:50

@purpleme12

So why has Sooraj not been released from bail then? Is it because Rabia keeps trying to bring the case to court again? Not really au fait with how legal stuff works
The way I understand things, Rania keeps delaying Sooraj's trial by asking for a stay (not sure what that is exactly). He seems up for facing both charges of abetment to suicide and murder in court.

Does anyone know who the father of Jiah's 2 younger sisters is? Is it the German stepfather we see in the programme or someone different? It's definitely my the same guy as Jiah's father, as he left when she was 2 🤔

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 21:51

Rabia not Rania ffs!

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 21:51

Not the sane guy.

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 21:52

Same 😬

purpleme12 · 17/01/2021 21:53

Oh I thought it was the same guy! No idea then!

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 22:31

After reading up on this a bit more, I think it may be true that Jiah fell pregnant with Sooraj's baby and the abortion she felt she had to go through with was the final straw that broke the camel's back so to speak.

The full letter she wrote that was found by her sister after her death is available online and makes for very interesting reading.

I do think he should be found guilty of abetment to suicide, as if it wasn't for the way he treated her, Jiah probably wouldn't have killed herself imho.

purpleme12 · 17/01/2021 22:38

Interesting
I haven't read anything further, I've just watched the programme

Meredusoleil · 17/01/2021 22:42

Also, the abortion could have been a motive for Sooraj to kill Jiah? To silence her once and for all and make sure the secret horror doesn't come out and curtail his just starting out Bollywood career?

ageingdisgracefully · 17/01/2021 22:53

The abetment to suicide charge is intriguing though...how the heck do you prove that beyond reasonable doubt?

It won't be enough for Rania IMHO anyway - she's going to hold out for murder, hence (I assume) the length of time it's taking for Sooraj to be tried.