Was abused by father at the age of 8, says Khushbu

Press Trust of India

Chennai /Jaipur: Actor and National Commission for Women (NCW) member Khushbu Sundar has said she was sexually abused by her father at the age of 8, which she described as the "toughest" thing.

When she was 15 years old, she started revolting against her father who then left the family in the lurch, the actor-politician said at the "We The Women" town hall organised by Mojo Story in Jaipur recently. "The toughest thing which took me long, not to forget, not to forgive but put it behind me and move forward was the abuse I faced as a child by my father. When a child is abused it scars the child for life," the 52-year-old BJP leader said.

"My mother's been through the most abusive marriage, a man who beat up his wife, his children, sexually abused his only daughter. He thought it was his birthright, being a man it was his right to do so. And when my abuse started I was just 8 years old and I had the courage to speak against him at the age of 15," Sundar added.

"At 15, I thought that it was enough and when I started revolting against, rebelling...he just left us with whatever we had, literally left us in the lurch. We didn't know where the next food is going to come from and he just left us," Sundar recalled. She said she was glad to have stood up against her father because "had he been in the family, I would not have reached so far."

"If I could fight the man at home, I could manage the world very easily," the outspoken actor said. Sundar, who ruled Tamil cinema in the 1990s and paired opposite top actors including Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, later entered politics. She joined the BJP in 2020 after quitting Congress.