Actress Kangana Ranaut on April 24 (Sunday), revealed on her show ‘Lock Upp’ that she was sexually assaulted as a child.
Ranaut’s confession came after contestant Munawar Faruqui revealed about his sexual assault as a child. They opened up about this as a part of the task on the show.
Contestant Saisha Shinde was given the task of convincing at least one contestant to share their secret, to save her on the show. Faruqui took a step forward and said that he was sexually assaulted first at the age of 6 and then it continued till he turned 11.
He said, “They were my relatives, two of them and it continued for 4-5 years. I would not understand at the time. It was close family. It went on for 3-4 years and once it got extreme and then they realised they should stop it," he recalled. Munawar added that he never shared this with anyone, even his family for his family had to face these relatives. “I once felt my dad got to know about it but he scolded me a lot. Perhaps he felt the same, as I did, that this is not something that should come out in the open.”
Ranaut commended Faruqui on coming ahead and speaking about this and then went on to share her experience as well. She stated that she was sexually assaulted by a young boy, “I was a child and a young boy from our town used to inappropriately touch me. At the time, I did not know what it meant, no matter how protective your family is, all kids go through this.”
She mentioned that the boy was only 3-4 years older than her. “He would call us, get us all to strip and check us. We would not understand it at the time. There is a huge stigma behind this, especially for men," Ranaut added.
She also pointed at the fact that the victims of these experiences are often made feel guilty about it. She then highlighted the need to address this issue and tell the children today about good and bad touches. The conversation ended on an emotional note.
