Highlights
- 'A lift-man once touched me inappropriately,' said Akshay Kumar
- Sonam and Kalki earlier shared their stories of sexual assault
- Akshay is awaiting the release of Toilet: Ek Prem Katha
Actor Akshay Kumar has spoken about his own experience with sexual abuse, revealing that he was 'touched inappropriately' as a boy. The 49-year-old actor was speaking in Mumbai at an international conference on human trafficking. "Let me share my own experience with you all here. When I was a very young kid, a lift-man once touched me inappropriately," Akshay Kumar said, reports news agency PTI. Akshay is the latest of several Bollywood celebrities, among them actresses Sonam Kapoor and Kalki Koechlin, to have gone public with personal stories of sexual assault.
Akshay Kumar stressed on the importance of speaking up about sexual misconduct and said communication is key to identifying predators. "Since I had good communication with my parents, I told them about this incident," he said at the conference, reports PTI. The lift-man was later discovered to be a repeat offender.
Some years ago, a security guard allegedly touched Akshay Kumar's son Aarav inappropriately and was reportedly fired from his job.
Akshay Kumar is married to actress-turned-author Twinkle Khanna. Aarav, now 14, has a little sister named Nitara, 4. Akshay, last seen in the films
Jolly LLB 2 and
Naam Shabana, is prepping for the release of
Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, co-starring Bhumi Pednekar, next month. Akshay Kumar won this year's National Film Award for Best Actor for his work in the 2016 movies
Rustom and
Airlift. His ongoing projects include
Padman, produced by Twinkle, and
Gold, which he was filming in London recently. Akshay also has
2.0, starring Rajinikanth, slated for release early next year.
(With inputs from PTI)