Akshay Kumar Reveals He Was 'Touched Inappropriately' As A Boy

New Delhi: 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)