Was sexually abused at 14, reveals Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan; opens up about depression

She said there were times she would cry and she would not know why she was crying

ira-khan-photoshoot Ira Khan | via Instagram

Bollywood actor Aamir Khan’s daughter Ira Khan opened up about depression, her struggles to find the reasons behind it, facing sexual abuse at the age of 14 and the divorce of her parents.

She said although she was trying to figure out the reasons for her depression, she hasn't been able to piece it together. In a nearly 10-minute video, posted on Instagram, she spoke about her privileges as a star kid. "I am financially well-off and I have always had everything I possibly need and probably more....I have a strong support system. My family has always been there for me,” she said.

Ira Khan said she knows that there are people with bigger issues than her out there, that at the end of the we are inconsequential beings in the cosmos, and she also knows that a few years down the line, with time and perspective, she would be able to handle her issues.

She said it took her three and a half years for her to seek help with regard to depression. She said there were times she would keep herself really busy and there were also times she would not get out of the bed. Further, Ira said she started to isolate herself as she did not want to alienate people.

Ira Khan said there were times she would cry and she would not know why she was crying.

"When I was small, my parents got divorced. But that didn’t seem like something that would traumatise me because my parents’ divorce was amicable. They are friends, the whole family is still friends. We are not a broken family by any means,” she said, speaking about the divorce of her parents Reena Dutta and Aamir Khan. She further said the divorce of her parents did not scar her and added that it was also a privilege that her parents had an amicable divorce.

Ira also revealed that when she was six years old she had TB. "I got lucky, pretty easily dealt with that," she said.

She further said she was sexually abused when she was 14. "When I was 14, I was sexually abused. And that was a slightly odd situation in the sense that I couldn't understand whether the person realised what he was doing. It took me a year to be sure they knew what they were doing. I immediately wrote my parents an email and got myself out of that situation. Once I was out out of the situation, I didn't feel so bad anymore. I was not scared anymore. I moved on and let go," she said said and added that this too did not scar her for life.

"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,” she wrote, sharing the video on Instagram.

"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?," she further wrote.

TAGS