Actress-turned-politician Khushboo Sundar, who alleged that she was She was sexually abused by her father when she was eight years oldsaid that children “need to open up” about the abuse they experience, but they often do not because, in most cases, the perpetrators are family members or people they know.
He said, ‘I think children need to open up…the main fear and thought that comes in their mind is that the society is going to ask them [questions]… What did she do to provoke the men, what was she wearing, was she friendly with the harasser etc. Furthermore, most such child abuse occurs within the family or by people they know. That’s why children should speak openly,” the BJP leader told The Indian Express,
Khushbu, who was recently appointed as a member of the National Commission for Women, had earlier told online news portal Mojo Story that she was sexually abused at the age of eight and endured it in silence till the age of 15, which Later the family broke up. All relations with his father.
on tuesday he told The Indian Express Her confession of abuse “wasn’t planned” but she is glad she spoke out after a childhood spent “fearing the consequences”.
“When I was going through that phase as a child, I had responsibilities as well. I had to worry about my brothers and mother. Like any other hunter, [my father] I would be threatened with consequences if I spoke about it to others… about the harassment I faced. He used to threaten me to harm my mother and three brothers. This is what happens in child abuse. Children undergo such abuse for fear of consequences, and [the attackers] Keep abusing more people because that one person remained silent,” she said, adding, “If there were strict laws like POCSO, I would have taken my father to court.
On the response to her comment, she said, “I cannot believe the number of calls I am getting from people I know, all telling me that they too will one day muster up the courage to speak out.”
Khushboo now lives with her mother, who is fighting dementia. Her father, she said, “died last year somewhere in Mumbai”.
“After our better life, he tried his best to come back. He sent messages. But my door was always closed. I think he passed away last year… I have never spoken to him in the last 37 years. As we say, karma bites back. He had three sons but none of them went to his funeral.
Born in Mumbai to a Muslim family, 52-year-old Khushbu started off as a child artiste in the 1980s. In many of her films, she played strong-willed, independent women who fought against patriarchal oppression and society’s norms. She often fought accusations of “obscenity” from conservatives and right-wing groups, especially in her early films.
Khushbu said, even though she has severed all ties with her father, he used to harass her on the sets of his films. “He (father) used to come and tell my producers that I will do anything for money. But the producers protected me, threw him out of the set and asked him not to come back again.
In 2010, Khushboo joined the DMK, praised by late party veteran M Karunanidhi for her “progressive views”. However, in 2014, Khushboo switched to the Congress after complaining about being marginalized in the DMK. In 2020, she joined the BJP, the party she aggressively took on while she was the Congress spokesperson.
On being part of the ruling party, he said it brings “a lot of positivity”. “Being in opposition means you have to oppose everything. At least we do not have this issue here.
“Even when I was in the Congress, I appreciated Narendra Modi for the National Education Policy and issues like triple talaq. Also, I have not deleted a single old tweet posted against the Prime Minister while being the spokesperson of the Congress. I did my job well and that is who I am.
Asked about allegations that her decision to join the BJP was to protect her filmmaker-actor husband Sundar C, she said, “It must be the most stupid thing” that the Congress and Dravidian parties can come up with.
“The only business we do is cinema. I don’t care about anything, I’m an open book. Besides, my husband will never step into my politics. I am on my own and they have no stake in what I do. If these people have guts, let them prove their allegations.