Actor and politician Khushbu Sundar, in a recent interview spoke about the childhood sexual abuse she was subjected to by her father. She was in conversation with journalist Barkha Dutt during an event titled ‘We The Women’. Speaking at the event, Khushbhu, who is also a member of the National Commission for Women (NCW) said that childhood sexual abuse can scar a person for their life and that she was able to stand up to her abuser at one point.
“I think when a child is abused, it scars them for life. It’s not about being a girl or a boy, it can be any child. Not many people are able to come out of that. My mother has been through the most abusive marriage. The man probably thought it was his birthright to beat up his wife, beat up his children, sexually abuse his only daughter. When my abuse started I was just 8 years old and I had the courage to speak against him when I was 15.”
Khushbu added that she did not speak about the abuse earlier because that would lead to him abusing her mother and brothers. “I think I reached a stage where I had to stand up against him because he kept on abusing me for a long time. If I opened my mouth, he would abuse my mother and three older brothers more. And you don't want your other family members to be abused because of what you are going through. One fear that stayed with me was that my mom may not believe me because I have seen her in that environment where there was a ‘kuch bhi hojaye mera pati devata hai’ (be what may, my husband is god) mindset. But at 15 I thought that it was enough and as I started revolting against him, he left us with whatever we had. He left us literally in a lurch. We didn't know where the next meal would come from. That courage I got because I was confident about myself and as a young girl I thought it was enough and I had to stand up against it,” she said.