Jiah and Suraj were in a live-in relationship: Police

Mumbai: Actress Jiah Khan's mother told police that her daughter was in a "live-in relationship" for a year with boyfriend Suraj Pancholi who was on Tuesday remanded in police custody till June 13 by a local court a day after being arrested for allegedly abetting her suicide.

Suraj, son of actor-couple Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab, was arrested Monday night on the charge of abetting the suicide of the 25-year-old actress who hanged herself at her Juhu residence last Monday.

Suraj was sent in police custody by the court after the prosecution said his interrogation was necessary following allegations of threat, assault and rape levelled against him by the actress in a note found three days after her suicide.

In a new twist to investigations, Jiah's mother Rabiya told police that the 'Nishabd' actress and Suraj were in "live-in relationship" for nearly a year, a senior police officer said.

"Rabiya also told us Jiah was completely shattered when Suraj sent her a 'break-up' bouquet. This was one of the reasons behind the young actress' extreme step. Suraj had promised to marry Jiah," the officer said.

However, there was no evidence to link Suraj's actor-father Aditya to the case, the officer added.

Police are also verifying in which hospital the distraught actress had undergone abortion. Though the note, purportedly written by Jiah, mentioned the word 'rape', police are yet to take a decision on slapping the charge of sexual assault against the accused.

Meanwhile, Rabiya tweeted "my daughter had bruises on her jaw. She was hit badly that pushed her to the end path. I wish I was there. How dare he (Suraj) hit her!"

Suraj has been booked under IPC Section 306 (abetment of suicide). His domestic help would again be called for recording of statement to corroborate the evidence gathered by the police in the case.

Seeking his custody, police told the court that they have recovered five love letters exchanged between Suraj and Jiah and they wanted to verify the contents.

The CCTV footage of the hotel and house, where the couple went hours before Jiah ended her life, has also been recovered, Public Prosecutor A K Pacharane told the court.

He said there were serious allegations against Suraj.

A distressed Jiah had aborted their baby and this aspect, too, needed to be probed, the prosecution said in its remand application.

Accepting the prosecution's arguments, Magistrate Seema Jadhav remanded Suraj in police custody till June 13. The court rejected defence lawyer Zameer Khan's contention that the note, which formed the basis for seeking custody, did not specifically name Suraj and was not signed by Jiah.

The note, according to the actress' family, was discovered three days after her death and not immediately, the defence counsel said.

Khan argued that his 21-year-old client could not have given any commitment (regarding relationship) to Jiah during a short courtship of just 6-8 months.

"Jiah was obsessive and possessive...it does not mean Suraj should be pinned."

He maintained that the US-born actress was a "troubled child" and was under depression for many years.

Jiah had made a dream debut in the film industry, featuring opposite megastar Amitabh Bachchan in Ram Gopal Varma's 2007 movie 'Nishabd' when she was just 19.

Jiah's mother had yesterday claimed her daughter took the extreme step due to "trauma and abuse" caused by Suraj and his father Aditya, rubbishing media reports that a fading career in Bollywood forced her to end her life.