(Trigger Warning: Descriptions of sexual abuse. Reader discretion advised)
Veteran actor Piyush Mishra and actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar have opened up about being sexually assaulted as children. In his autobiographical novel 'Tumhari Auqaat Kya Hai Piyush Mishra', the actor recounts the traumatic incident of being abused by a female relative when he was in the seventh standard.
In an interview with PTI, Mishra said that the incident affected him a lot, but he didn't want to take "revenge" on that person. "Sex is such a healthy thing that your first encounter with it should be good, otherwise it scars you for life, it disturbs you for life. That sexual assault gave me complex throughout my life and it took me a long time and several partners to come out of it. I wanted to hide the identity of some people. Some of them are women, and some men who are now well established in the film industry. I did not want to take revenge against anybody, or to hurt anyone”, the actor told the publication.
In an interview with Barkha Dutt for Mojo Story Khushbu said she was abused by her father since the age of eight and could only speak up against him when she turned 15.
“I think when a child is abused, it scars them for life, and it’s not about a girl or a boy. My mother has been through the most abusive marriage. A man who 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 Sundar, Actor-turned-politician
She added that, as a child, she feared no one would believe her. “One fear that stayed with me was my mom may not believe me because I have seen her in that environment where there was ‘kuch bhi hojaye mera pati devata hai (whatever happens, my husband is God)’ mindset. However, at 15 I thought that it was enough and I started revolting against him. I was not even 16 and he left us with whatever we had and we didn’t know where the next meal will come from.”
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