Lock Upp day 56: Kangana reveals she was inappropriately touched as a child

On Sunday’s episode of the ongoing reality show Lock Upp, host Kangana Ranaut shared her experience of having faced sexual assault as a child. She talked about it after Munawar Faruqui shared a similar experience on the show during a task.

When Saisha Shinde was asked to convince one contestant to share his secret in order to save her, Munawar agreed to do so. He said, “I was six years old and I was sexually assaulted for several years, till the time that I was an 11-year-old boy. I was sexually assaulted for that time. 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 added, “I have never shared this with anyone as I have to face them, and they have to face the family as well. 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. “

Praising him for sharing his experience, Kangana said, “So many kids go through this every year but we avoid talking about it on public platforms. All of us go through this, all of us have been inappropriately touched at some point. I have faced this. 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 added, “Another point is that you are made to feel guilty for it. This is a huge crisis for kids in our society. To tell them the difference between good and bad touch may not be enough. It becomes such a huge crisis. Kids are psychologically traumatised and scarred for life. They face such endless troubles in life. This guy was three to four years elder than me, perhaps he was exploring his sexuality. 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. It is very brave of you, Munawar, that you chose this platform to share your experience.”