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Incidents of physical abuse of female actors are constantly coming to light in the Malayalam film industry. Meanwhile, actress Khushboo Sundar, who was Anil Kapoor's co-star, has made a shocking revelation. The actress has said that her own father had sexually abused her. After keeping quiet for years, the actress has now raised her voice on the matter.
The actress wrote on her official X platform (formerly Twitter), “The #MeToo cases coming from our industry are heartbreaking. Salute to those women who stood their ground and won. Hema committee was needed to stop rape cases. But will this stop it? Abuse, asking for sexual favors and expecting women to compromise, this happens in every field. Why should only women face this? This happens to men as well, but women bear the brunt.”
Further, the actress wrote, I talked about this to my 24 and 21 year old daughters. I was surprised to see how they were able to understand the victims. It does not matter whether you are speaking about this today or tomorrow, just speak up. Speaking up immediately will help the investigation to happen in a better way and you will be able to heal faster.
In her tweet, the actress further wrote, being a woman and a mother, such violence shakes not only the body but also the soul. These cases of cruelty shake our trust, love, strength and foundation. Some people ask me why it took so long to say all this about facing abuse by my father. I agree that I should have said all this earlier. But what happened to me did not happen for any compromise. I was exploited at the hands of the person who should have been the strongest hand to support me when I fell.
At the end of her tweet, the actress wrote, it is understood that many women do not have the support of their family. They come from small towns with a sparkle in their eyes and hope that they will shine here. But often their dreams are crushed. This should be like a wake-up call. Stop this exploitation here. Women should speak openly. Remember that you always have a choice in life. Your no means no. Never compromise your dignity. As a woman and a mother, I stand with all the victims.
Let us tell you that the Hema Committee was formed in 2019 to look into the cases of physical abuse of women in the Malayalam film industry. After 4 years, this committee has submitted a 233-page report to the Kerala government on 19 August. In which cases of physical abuse by many big actors are mentioned. As soon as the report came out, many actresses are openly talking about the incidents of abuse that happened with them.
Recently, actress Meenu Munir has filed a complaint of harassment against 7 actors including senior Malayalam actor Mukesh. Actress Revathi Sampath has also filed a complaint against senior actor Siddiqui under section 354. The responsibility of investigating these cases has been handed over to the SIT (Special Investigation Team), which has been formed for such cases.
Let us tell you that 53-year-old actress Khushboo Sundar is a well-known name in South cinema. The actress has been a part of dozens of films in Hindi cinema like Lawaris, Naseeb Apna Apna, Kaliya, Meri Jung. Khushboo played the role of Anil Kapoor's sister in the film Meri Jung. Apart from being an actress, Khushboo is a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. In the year 2000, Khushboo married famous South filmmaker C. Sundar.
