Was Sexually Abused When I was 14: Aamir Khan's Daughter Ira

In a video, Ira spoke about how she tried to figure out the causes of her depression.

Aamir Khan's daughter and filmmaker Ira opened up about being sexually abused when she was 14 years old. In a 10-minute video posted on Instagram, Ira spoke about dealing with depression and how she had tried to figure out the causes behind it. Ira had spoken about being diagnosed with clinical depression last month. However, instead of getting support online she was subjected to insensitive questions about her privilege.

View this post on Instagram

HINDI VERSION - LINK IN BIO. I never spoke to anyone about anything because I assumed that my privilege meant I should handle my stuff on my own, or if there was something bigger, it would make people need a better answer than “I don’t know.” It made me feel like I needed a better answer and until I had that answer, my feelings weren’t something I should bother anyone else with. No problem was big enough to ponder too long about. What would anyone do? I had everything. What would anyone say? I had said it all. I still think there’s a small part of me that thinks I’m making all this up, that I have nothing to feel bad about, that I’m not trying hard enough, that maybe I’m over reacting. Old habits die hard. It takes me feeling my worst to make myself believe that it’s bad enough to take seriously. And no matter how many things I have, how nice to me people are because of my dad, how nice to me people are because they love and care about me... if I feel a certain way, a certain not nice way, then how much can rationally trying to explain these things to myself do? Shouldn’t I instead get up and try and fix things? And if I can’t do that for myself? Shouldn’t I ask for help? . . . #mentalhealth #privilege #depression #repression #divorce #sexualabuse #letstalk #betterlatethannever #letitout #depressionhelp #askforhelp

A post shared by Ira Khan (@khan.ira) on Oct 31, 2020 at 10:02pm PDT

Speaking about the abuse Ira said, "I was sexually abused when I was 14. At that time I couldn't understand whether the person realised what he was doing and I didn't know how to confide in. It took me a year to be sure that the person was aware of his actions. I immediately wrote my parents an email and got myself out of that situation. Once I was out it didn't feel so bad. I was not scared anymore. It's not something that has scarred me for life".

Ira added that her parents' divorce was not that traumatising because both Aamir Khan and Reena Dutta ensured that they are always there for Ira and Junaid. "When I was small, my parents got divorced. But that didn’t seem like something that would traumatise me because my parents’ divorce was amicable. They are friends, the whole family is still friends. We are not a broken family by any means,” she said in her video.

Ira also said that it was because of her privileges that she hesitated to come out and let her family and friends know how she was feeling. “I never spoke to anyone about anything because I assumed that my privilege meant I should handle my stuff on my own, or if there was something bigger, it would make people need a better answer than “I don’t know.” It made me feel like I needed a better answer and until I had that answer, my feelings weren’t something I should bother anyone else with. No problem was big enough to ponder too long about. What would anyone do? I had everything. What would anyone say? I had said it all,” she said.

(If you are going through depression or know someone in distress, please reach out to them with kindness and call these numbers of local emergency services, helplines, and mental health NGOs).