"I did not know what that person was doing: Aamir Khan's daughter Ira reveals she was sexually abused as a minor

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan on Sunday revealed that she was sexually abused at age 14 by someone known to her and the family. She took to Instagram to speak about her battle with depression. In the 10-minute video she spoke about how she tried to figure out the reasons behind her condition despite having all the “privileges”. Ira opened up on personal issues like being sexually exploited by a known person when she was 14-years-old, dealing with a dreaded disease at the age of 6, her parent’s divorce, besides other challenges.

Without naming her perpetrator Ira Khan spoke about the sexual abuse she was subjected to at the age of 14: “I was sexually abused when I was 14. At that time I couldn’t understand whether the person realised what he was doing and I didn’t know how to confide in. It took me a year to be sure that the person was aware of his actions. I immediately wrote my parents an email and got myself out of that situation. Once I was out it didn’t feel so bad. I was not scared anymore. It’s not something that has scarred me for life”.

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HINDI VERSION - LINK IN BIO. I never spoke to anyone about anything because I assumed that my privilege meant I should handle my stuff on my own, or if there was something bigger, it would make people need a better answer than “I don’t know.” It made me feel like I needed a better answer and until I had that answer, my feelings weren’t something I should bother anyone else with. No problem was big enough to ponder too long about. What would anyone do? I had everything. What would anyone say? I had said it all. I still think there’s a small part of me that thinks I’m making all this up, that I have nothing to feel bad about, that I’m not trying hard enough, that maybe I’m over reacting. Old habits die hard. It takes me feeling my worst to make myself believe that it’s bad enough to take seriously. And no matter how many things I have, how nice to me people are because of my dad, how nice to me people are because they love and care about me... if I feel a certain way, a certain not nice way, then how much can rationally trying to explain these things to myself do? Shouldn’t I instead get up and try and fix things? And if I can’t do that for myself? Shouldn’t I ask for help? . . . #mentalhealth #privilege #depression #repression #divorce #sexualabuse #letstalk #betterlatethannever #letitout #depressionhelp #askforhelp

A post shared by Ira Khan (@khan.ira) on Oct 31, 2020 at 10:02pm PDT

Speaking about the clinical depression she was diagnosed with a month back, Ira said that she tried and figured out the causes behind it. However, instead of getting support online, she was badgered with insensitive questions about her privileges, said Ira. She said that it was because of her privileges that she hesitated to come out and let her family and friends know how she was feeling. “I never spoke to anyone about anything because I assumed that my privilege meant I should handle my stuff on my own”. It made me feel like I needed a better answer and until I had that answer, my feelings weren’t something I should bother anyone else with. No problem was big enough to ponder too long about. What would anyone do? I had everything. What would anyone say? I had said it all.