Television actor Maninee De recently opened up about her experience of sexual abuse at the age of seven during a conversation with Siddharth Kannan. She described the experience as extremely devastating and shared that she informed her parents many years later.
She said, “I went through abuse as a kid. So wo thoda sa ek dark phase tha meri life ka. Mai apne hi demons ke saath fight kar rahi thi. [There was a bit of a dark phase in my life. I was fighting with my own demons.] ” Maninee also said that she told her parents about this much later. She said, “Baad me bataya maine. Kaafi saal baad. [I shared it later. Many years later.]”
When asked how she coped up with it, Maninee said, “Bahut mushkil tha, [It was really tough] I am not going to deny. And I am not going to make it lighter by saying nahi, nahi. It is like a wound. Of course, I have done a lot of shadow work. Bahut healing process se guzri hu mai. Lekin kahi na kahi wo ek jo wound hota hai na usko bada waqt lagta hai bharne mein. And that is the reason I became a therapist, ki jo mere saath hua vo kisi aur ke saath na ho aur agar unfortunately ho toh I should be there to heal that child. [I’ve gone through a long healing process. But somewhere, that wound takes a long time to heal. And that is the reason I became a therapist – so that what happened to me doesn’t happen to anyone else, and if unfortunately it does, I should be there to heal that person.]”
Sharing how she dealt with the situation, Maninee De explained, “I think I kind of transmuted, angrezi mein agar bola jaaye. Maine kitaabe padh kar likhna shuru kar diya. [I think I kind of transmuted, if I may say so in English. I started writing by reading books.] I used to write poems. I used to go play. I used to have conversations with myself. I think wo mera evolve hone ka process tha. Mushkil tha lekin mai apne waqt se pehle badi ho gayi. [I think that was my process of evolving. It was difficult, but I grew up before time.]”
De revealed that the person who committed the assault was a close relative and that he had called her to apologise five to six years ago. De is known for her work in films such as ‘Fashion’, ‘Krrish’, and ‘Student of The Year’.
Source Agencies
