bollywood

Updated: Dec 19, 2016 20:00 IST

Actor Sonam Kapoor talked about being molested as a 13-year-old while at the movies with her friends. She was speaking at film critic Rajeev Masand’s The Actresses Roundtable, where she was joined by Anushka Sharma, Alia Bhatt, Vidya Balan and Radhika Apte.

A lot of issues were addressed during the conversation, but perhaps the biggest takeaway was how strongly each of them felt about sexual harassment.

While talking about the kind of molestation women have to face everyday, Sonam talked about being groped by a man as a child. “Everybody goes through some sort of sexual abuse in their childhood. I know I have been molested when I was younger and it was traumatising. I didn’t speak about it for two years or three years. I remember the incident so clearly,” she said.

The incident took place at Mumbai’s Gaiety Galaxy Theatre when the gang stepped out to get some snacks. “There was a man who came from behind and just held my breasts like that. And obviously, I didn’t have breasts at that time. I started shaking and shivering and I didn’t know what was going on and I started crying right there. I didn’t speak about it. I just sat there and I finished watching the film because I felt that I’d done something wrong for the longest time,” she said.

The other actors were shocked by her story and agreed that such incidents were common. Anushka recounted a similar incident from her childhood when her friend was molested. At that time, Anushka’s mother asked her if she had ever been touched inappropriately. Anushka said at that age, she was confused as to why her mother was asking her such questions.

The actors agreed that women need to speak about harassment more often.

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