As an actress, Khushbu has starred in over 100 Tamil films. Photo: Khushbu Sundar/Instagram
Actress-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar revealed in a recent interview that her father started sexually abusing her at the age of eight.
The Indian star added that she decided to do something about the abuse when she was 15 years old.
“I think when a child is abused, it scars the child for life and it’s not about a girl or a boy,” the 52-year-old was reported saying in Indian news portals.
“My mother has been through the most abusive marriage with 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.”
According to her, when she started rebelling against her father, he abandoned the family.
“I was not even 16 and he just left us with whatever we had. We didn’t know where our next meal would come from.”
At the same time, she admitted that speaking against her father taught her a valuable lesson – “If I could fight the man at home, I could manage the world very easily”.
The mother of two daughters also said: ''If he had been in the family, I would not have reached so far.”
As an actress, Khushbu has starred in over 100 Tamil films including many hits like Chinna Thambi, Annamalai and Mannan.
In later years, she showed great skill as a presenter of game shows on television, where she would engage with the contestants and audience members graciously and easily.
The outspoken Khushbu is vocal about many things, especially on women’s rights and violence against women.
As a survivor of sexual violence, she spoke about what she was most afraid of during the ordeal.
“One fear that stayed with me was my mum may not believing me because I have seen her in that environment where there was ‘kuch bhi hojaye mera pati devata hai (no matter what happens, my husband is my God)’ mindset.”
Since becoming active in politics, Khushbu has served as a member in several political parties. Her most recent nomination was as a member of India’s National Commission for Women.
