Shivangi Joshi, Harshad Chopda Speak Of Sexual Abuse Trauma

MUMBAI- Television actors Shivangi Joshi and Harshad Chopda have opened up about surviving childhood sexual abuse, sharing their experiences on the latest episode of ‘Lock Upp 2’.

Shivangi was asked to reveal a secret linked to the code word “bread and butter.” She began by recalling the financial hardships her family faced after her father suffered heavy business losses. During that difficult period, relatives helped the family with basic necessities.

She then revealed that she was molested by a man her family trusted.

Calling him her “Mama Ji,” Shivangi said he was her mother’s sworn brother and a well-respected man. As she prepared to move to Mumbai to pursue acting, he offered to pick her up from school and, under the pretext of teaching her to drive, asked her to sit on his lap while holding the steering wheel.

“He used to tell me that since you are going to Bombay for acting, you need to learn how to drive a car. He would ask me to sit in his lap and hold the steering. I didn’t understand what was happening or his intentions. I didn’t like it, so I told him I didn’t want to learn,” she shared.

Shivangi broke down while recalling another incident when she was alone at home. She said he came over claiming he would explain how the entertainment industry worked and began kissing her on the forehead and cheeks.

“When he tried to kiss me on my lips, I pushed him and mistakenly hit him. That angered him, and he threw me on the floor,” she said.

The actress added that her parents returned home in time.

“I don’t know what would have happened that day, but by God’s grace, my mom and dad arrived. My dad heard me screaming, saw what had happened, beat him and threw him out of the house,” Shivangi said, adding that the incident left her too traumatized to step out of the house for many days.

In the same episode, Harshad Chopda also shared that he was sexually assaulted as a child and had kept the trauma buried for years because he was afraid to speak about it.

Recalling the incident, Harshad said he was around nine or ten years old when his parents left him with people who were trusted not only by the family but by the entire community.

“As a child, I was a little submissive. In the night, someone was rubbing himself on me. I was fully clothed; it was just that someone was on top of me and rubbing,” he said.

Harshad said he did not understand what was happening at the time and pretended to be asleep.

“I was scared. I acted like I was sleeping. I have never told anyone about this before because I didn’t even know what had happened,” he said, adding that the same person later called him to the balcony, lifted him and again behaved inappropriately.

The actor urged parents to speak openly with their children and encourage them to report such incidents.

“For people like me, whatever happens, we need to blurt out and discuss things so that the person is exposed. Those people are still living their lives joyously,” he said.

Harshad also said that the experience left him with fear around gay men, clarifying, “I don’t hate them, I am just scared of them.”

‘Lock Upp 2’ is hosted by Farah Khan and Riteish Deshmukh on Netflix. (IANS)