A sessions court denied Sooraj Pancholi bail on June 21 for allegedly abetting the suicide of his actor-girlfriend Jiah Khan, according to The Indian Express.

Pancholi, the son of Bollywood actor actor Aditya Pancholi, was arrested on June 10. Khan committed suicide on June 3 in her Mumbai home. Her mother, Rabia Amin, intervened in the bail application alleging that Sooraj compelled the late actress to kill herself. In her six-page suicide letter, Khan talked about her troubled relationship with Sooraj. He was reportedly also the last person Khan spoke to before she hanged herself.

The defense said there was no evidence to link Sooraj with the suicide, according to the report. The defense added that the suicide note did not have any signature and did not explicitly state the name of the accused. The defense argued the case against Sooraj was merely a way to damage his image and his father's.

Prosecutor Jyoti Sawant countered: "A letter Jiah allegedly wrote claims Sooraj assaulted, raped and at times hit her in front of other people. There is enough evidence against Sooraj."

Sawant added that they have call date records proving that the pair spoke on the phone and exchanged messages that he later deleted.

"Thus, he tried to destroy evidence against him," he said, "If Sooraj gets bail at this stage, he can tamper with evidence and there is a possibility he may try to leave the country."

Sooraj will stay in judicial custody until June 27.

Film director Subhash Ghai - who was rumored to be in talks to cast Sooraj in a new film - said the consensus belief in the industry is that Sooraj "has been trapped and is simply being made a scapegoat."

"What can one do if a person overreacts and commits suicide? Youngsters today are so open-minded, they talk, fight and yet are back together before you can blink," he said. "One should not read too much into it."

The director said the industry will stand by Sooraj "because he is a good boy." He added, "of course, we do not know about the personal details, but as far as his professional career is concerned, I don't think he will be out of films or the industry."

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Jiah Khan