Mumbai: Prominent South Indian actress and politician Khushboo Sundar has revealed disturbing details of the abuse she faced during her childhood. In an interview with journalist Vicky Lalwani, he shared that his father had sexually abused him and that he also physically abused his mother and brothers. Her testimony sheds light on the lasting trauma caused by domestic abuse and the resilience needed to recover from it.
Khushboo vividly described her father’s violent behavior, and painted a picture of constant abuse within their home. She said that while she faced sexual abuse, her father’s physical violence targeted her brothers and mother. “He was sexually abusive to me, he was physically abusive to my brothers. He used to beat them with belts, buckles and shoe heels. He used to punch my mother. He used to throw my mother against the wall. That’s why we’ve seen that guy become so abusive.”
Her father’s actions created an atmosphere of fear due to which Khushboo became afraid to speak. She feared that revealing the abuse would provoke even more violence towards her family. “This fear developed in me that if you were going to talk to someone about what he had done, he would abuse them more, beat them more. So I had to bear the brunt of it because I was already seeing how he was beating my brothers and my mother. I was so scared,” she explained.
Khushboo’s healing journey began when her family shifted to Chennai. At the age of 14, she finally spoke out about the abuse she suffered, which marked a turning point in her life. He credited a hairdresser named Ubin, who worked with him on the sets of the film Jaanu, for helping him muster the courage to face the situation.
Her hairdresser Ubin, a single mother of four, witnesses Khushboo’s father’s inappropriate behavior and decides to intervene. “She probably noticed his touchiness and became suspicious because he had four older children. She was a single parent herself, so perhaps she suspected this man wasn’t right. She had seen how he used to beat me on the sets and in the hotel room. Maybe she realized that her body language towards me was not right,” Khushboo revealed.
When Yubin approached Khushboo and encouraged her to confide in someone, Khushboo broke down and shared her story. “He talked to me, he asked me. That’s when I contacted her and she told me that I had to talk to my mother,” Khushboo recalled.
After confronting her past, Khushboo eventually built a successful career in the South Indian film industry and later entered politics. She has used her platform to advocate for women’s rights and raise awareness of abuse, and has drawn inspiration from her own experiences to support survivors.
