Not me, my father should be ashamed for sexually assaulting me: Khushbu Sundar

BJP leader Khushbu, who is a National Commission for Women member, said that she spoke out about the incident so that other women who have undergone similar sexual assaults and harassment too would dare to speak out.

Days after making shocking claims of being a victim of sexual assault by his father in her childhood, BJP leader Khushbu Sundar has said that it's the perpetrator who should be ashamed for his acts, and not she.

"I have not made a startling statement. I think that was an honesty which I have come out with. I am not ashamed of what I have said because this has happened to me and I think the perpetrator needs to be ashamed for what he has done," ANI quoted the actress-turned-politician as saying on asking about her statement on being sexually abused by her father at the age of eight.

Khushbu, who is now a member of National Commission for Women (NCW), said that she spoke out about the incident so that other women who have undergone similar sexual assaults and harassment too would dare to speak out.

"I think I need to send this message across that 'you have to be strong and take control of yourself and not let anything bring you down or think that this is the end of the road.' If I have taken so many years to speak about it (I can understand other victims' plight)... I think women need to speak about it and tell 'this has happened to me'. (Anyway) I will continue my journey, no matter what," she added.

A few days ago, Khusbu opened up about facing sexual assault from her father at the age of eight. 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" organised by Mojo Story in Jaipur recently.

"The toughest thing which took me so long... not to forget, not to forgive... but put it behind me and move forward... was the abuse by my father I faced as a child. When a child is abused, it scars the child for life," she 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 and literally left us in the lurch. We didn't know where the next food was going to come from... he just left us and went away," 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.

Khushbu began her acting career as a child artist in the Hindi film 'The Burning Train'. For the next five years, she appeared in the role of child actor in many movies before making debut in an adult role in Anil Kapoor's younger sister in much-acclaimed film 'Meri Jung' in the year 1985. Khushbu was introduced to South Indian screens through the Telugu film 'Kaliyuga Pandavulu' (1986), opposite Venkatesh. Thereafter, there was no looking back for her.

She first joined DMK in 2010 before moving to Congress in 2016. She then joined BJP in 2020 and contested from Thousand Lights constituency in 2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly polls but lost to DMK's Ezhilan N.

With inputs from ANI