Bollywood actor Sohail Khan opened up about a painful chapter from his childhood on a show that he had never spoken about publicly, being s*xually harassed as a young boy. He told fellow contestants that he didn’t share it with anyone for a very long time, not even his family, until he was fully grown up.
The topic came up naturally when the group’s conversation shifted to bullying and the fear that stops many children from asking adults for help. For Sohail Khan, it clearly struck a personal chord.
He explained that this experience is exactly why he’s so strict with his own sons, Nirvaan and Yohan, about speaking up. He said he constantly reminds them that they should never feel awkward or scared to come to him if anyone ever bullies them or makes them feel unsafe, because he knows firsthand what it’s like to stay quiet out of fear as he carried it alone for so many years.
Sohail Khan then went further, revealing that he was harassed when he was a child and simply couldn’t find the courage to tell anyone at the time. It was only once he had grown into an adult that he finally sat his father down and told him what had happened. He recalled his father being shocked that he’d held onto it for so long and Sohail Khan admitted he’d apologised simply because he’d felt so ashamed to say it out loud, even though, as he pointed out, none of it had been his fault. He described it plainly: back then, the shame just weighs on you, even when you’ve done nothing wrong.
That memory is now the reason he keeps repeating the same message to his kids, no matter what happens, they should never sit with something like that alone.
The moment reportedly left the rest of the contestants visibly moved. Several of them praised him for having the courage to share something he’d kept hidden for so long, with some hugging him afterward and calling him incredibly brave for opening up.
