Jagannathan starred in the film ‘Delhi Belly’.
By Dileep Thekkethil
BENGALURU: Actress Poorna Jagannathan, through the recently released video titled ‘Breaking the Cycle of Violence’, has revealed that she was sexually assaulted at the age of 9.
The startling revelation by the actress aims to spread awareness about the importance of speaking about gender-based violence. The three-minute video is part of the World Bank’s Wevolve campaign, established for empowering young men and women.
In the video, Jagannathan delves into the details about a childhood life that she lived with an alcoholic father by describing it as a bit of “a roller coaster†and she was advised not to speak about “the darknessâ€. The other person who lived along with them in the house was “silenceâ€.
Jagannathan says she was sexually assaulted by a neighbor, who was also a family friend, when she was 9 years old. The neighbor asked her not to tell anyone, and she complied.
Jagannathan, who came to the limelight after her appearance in the 2011 Bollywood film ‘Delhi Belly’, talks about the importance of speaking up about getting assaulted. She says, “My first encounter with sexual violence was probably when I was nine. There was a neighbor, a family friend who got his hands on me and he obviously told me not to tell anyone but I had learnt that lesson before. I’ve encountered so many situations as a child or as a young adult that were violent but I wouldn’t speak about it. There was a code that you didn’t talk about it.”
She also goes on, describing the city buses of Delhi, that left her body bruised and scarred after incessant groping. She says, “It was so routine,†something that a majority of female commuters in Delhi will agree with.
Jagannathan says in the video that she “always thought that silence was the best, safest, most acceptable way of coping.†But the gang rape and murder of a 23-year old student inside a moving bus in the busy roads of Delhi changed her outlook and instigated her to produce a play written by Yael Farber called ‘Nirbhaya’, which won Amnesty International Award in 2013.
Jagannathan is the latest among celebrities to speak up about being sexually assaulted. Earlier, Pakistani actress Somy Ali, Hollywood star Ashley Judd, and Bollywood heroines Deepika Padukone and Kalki Koechlin had opened up to having to face gender-based violence.