(This article is authored by Alar)

Actor-turned-politician Khushbu Sundar has come forward and shared her story about the sexual abuse she faced as a child by her own father, at the recent "We The Women" town hall event in Jaipur. The BJP leader, who has been appointed to the National Commission for Women (NCW), revealed that the abuse started when she was eight years old and it took her until the age of 15 to speak out against him.

In an interaction with Barkha Dutt for Mojo Story, She shared "The toughest thing which took me long, not to forget, not to forgive but put it behind me and move forward was the abuse I faced as a child by my father. When a child is abused it scars the child for life,"

She furthered, "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. I thought that it was enough and when I started revolting against, rebelling...he just left us when I was 16 with whatever we had, literally left us in the lurch. We didn't know where the next food is going to come from and he just left us went.", she stated. 

Khushbu Sundar began her career as a child artist with the Hindi film, The Burning Train (1980) where she featured in the song "Teri Hai Zameen Tera Aasman". She marked her debut in South Indian cinema with the Telugu film, Kaliyuga Pandavulu (1986), where she shared screen space with Venkatesh.

The talented actress later shifted her focus to the Tamil and other South Indian film industries. She later made a name for herself in television serials. After a successful career in films, she ventured into politics and is currently a national spokesperson for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).