Mumbai: There is a shocking twist to the Jiah Khan Suicide case. A British forensic expert has stated in his report that the Bollywood actor’s hanging was staged and that the marks on her face and neck indicate that it wasn’t a case of suicide.

With the findings of Forensic Expert Jason Payne-James contradicting the findings of Indian experts, the case has taken a new turn and Jiah’s mother Rabia is likely to submit the report before the Mumbai sessions court on Wednesday.

Payne-James studied the medical and post-mortem reports, and also analysed pictures of Jiah’s body apart from reviewing CCTV grabs and images of her room as part of his investigation.

While the state’s forensic experts claimed that injury marks on Jiah’s lower lip were perhaps the result of “friction with the teeth during the commission of the act (suicide)”, according to Payne-James the injuries “represent either abrasions or bruises”, and are indicative of “blunt force trauma to the mouth region (for example hand placed over the mouth)”. “They are not typical of teeth marks,” report added.

Further, while state forensic experts termed the ligature marks on Jiah’s neck as something that “may be caused due to slippage of ligature material [dupatta] slightly downwards or the ligature knot present at that site”, Payne-James’ report contradicted this as well. 

It may be recalled that over a month back the CBI informed the Bombay High Court that it had no reason to suspect murder in the case. Jiah was found hanging from her residence in Juhu, Mumbai in June 2013. Her boyfriend Sooraj Pancholi was arrested in connection with the same but later released.

In December last year, the CBI charged Sooraj with abetment to suicide. Rabia, however, was unhappy with the developments in the case, and thus roped in Payne-James of UK-based Forensic Healthcare Services Ltd.