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Zarina Wahab is angry. Very, very, angry. For the allegations hurled at her 22-year-old son Sooraj Pancholi. That he's an alcoholic. That he was abusive towards the late Jiah Khan, his girlfriend. That he compelled her to undergo an abortion. And that he abetted her suicide on the fateful night of June 3. Yet, Zarina, who's known to be the gentle and 'better' half of Aditya Pancholi is maintaining a dignified stance. Even as Sooraj has been detained by the police. She's not only continuing her shooting but also attending to media queries with grace ' even though her drastic weight loss is testimony to the trauma within. Because she believes her son is innocent. But somewhere the cracks show. When she breaks down in the midst of the conversation or when she asks in exasperation, "Kitna poochenge aap log? Why is my son being made out to be a villain?" Yet, she weighs her words carefully when she speaks of the late Jiah, "I don't want to malign that child. I'm sure she too must be unhappy about what's been said about Sooraj. Truth will prevail..." Excerpts...
Q. What's your state of mind right now?
I am disturbed. But I'm trying to keep my balance. We know we are not in the wrong. So we are not nervous. But yes I am bothered about one thing. If Rabia had met Soooraj and not liked him why didn't she stop her daughter (Jiah) from meeting him? If she could not understand her daughter in 25 years, how would a boy be able to understand her in just seven to eight months?
Q. What Happened on that fateful Monday night?
Usually, on Mondays I don't call him. After the weekend he has a hectic schedule. He's busy undergoing his training. From what I gathered, Jiah had returned from a meeting in the South. She was told to put on weight for her role in Telugu films.After her suicide, her mother (Rabia Khan) first said that Jiah was depressed and so had committed suicide. But when she saw that the last call on Jiah's cell was Sooraj's, she thought why should my daughter come across as weak? She started changing her statements. May be she thought this was a way of concealing her own ghar ke problems.
Q. Had Sooraj spoken to Rabia Khan about Jiah's alleged troubled mental state?
He told me that in the first week of May he had met Rabia and had told her, 'I can't handle her. I have to concentrate on my career. I can't devote as much time as she wants'. But Rabia said, 'Don't tell this to her now!' Then on May 18, Jiah came to Sooraj sobbing uncontrollably. She said, 'I have fought with my mother. I was supposed to fly to Kolkata but I have missed my flight.' Sooraj was worried. He asked our staff to sit with her while he went straight to Rabia. She was with Tom Puppendahl. Sooraj told her, 'Do you know where your daughter is? She's crying in my house.' But Rabia never went to fetch her. Had I been in her place, I'd have run down in a nightie if my child was in trouble. I asked Rabia about this incident when I paid her a visit and she just walked away.
Q. It's alleged that Sooraj lived on his own since he was 14 and often turned abusive under the influence of alcohol...
Sooraj suljha huwa ladka hai (he's a sober boy). He is never abusive. My son never touched alcohol. I can write this in blood. Only once has he had a Bacardi. Sooraj lived with my mother-in-law (she passed away last year) in Juhu. He was attached to her. Aditya's temper is notorious. The mother thought of using that to cast aspersions on Sooraj. Rabia has gone to such an extent to malign Sooraj that it's now getting irritating.
Q. What was 'the rape' that Jiah's letter mentioned?
Jiah was raped when she was 14 in UK, it's common knowledge. She herself has spoken about it. I don't want to talk anything bad about the child. Not once has she mentioned abuse in the five letters recovered from our house. She has written them with such love for Sooraj. She has written that you came like an angel and took me away from my past. But the letters supposedly found from her house mention just that. In India the public is vulnerable. They believe everything.
Q. The letters also mention abortion'
I too read about it in the papers. Forget Sooraj and Jiah, children today sort out things between themselves before it reaches their parents. The more I talk only gandagi (dirt) will come out. Kuch achhayee reh nahin gayee hai (there's nothing good left now). The only thing left for us now is to pull out Rabia's past since she's throwing so much muck on us. I had sympathy for Rabia but now she has lost it. To protect her past, she can't use her innocent child.
Q. What was the bouquet that Sooraj sent her about?
Sooraj was at the health club that day when Jiah kept calling him. He couldn't receive her calls. So she sent him a message saying that she had signed three films and wasn't he happy about her success? He replied of course 'I am'. He then asked our staff to pick up a bouquet, have the message 'All the best' written and send it to her. The police verified this fact at the bouquet shop. The salesman confirmed that he had written 'All The Best' and that it was not a break-up bouquet.
Q. Reportedly, Jiah had slit her wrist earlier too'
Much before she came into my son's life, we had heard that she had slit her wrists. Sooraj was not the first boy in Jiah's life. There were a couple before him and she was as deeply involved with them. To save my son I will not talk poorly of someone else's daughter. Had her mother been okay, Jiah wouldn't have gone in the first place. I wish Rabia had loved her daughter more instead of her photograph.
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