Aamir Khan's daughter Ira Khan on being sexually abused, coping with parents' divorce

On World Mental Health Day, Aamir Khan's daughter Ira Khan opened up about battling depression. The young girl spoke fearlessly and poured her heart out. Netizens on social media lauded Ira for coming out in the open and talking about depression bravely.

Yesterday, Ira shared a 10-minute long video on her Instagram handle where she opened about the separation of her parents, dealing with depression and how she had tried to figure out the cause behind it. She also revealed that she was sexually abused at the age of 14.

Aamir Khan's daughter and filmmaker Ira opened up about being sexually abused.

Speaking about the abuse, Ira in the video 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 to 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".

On parents' divorce

My parents' divorce was not that traumatizing because they both ensured that they are always there for us. 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, and the whole family is still friends. We are not a broken family by any means.

Her parent's amicable divorce was a privilege.

My parents were very good about being parents to Junaid and me, even after divorce. And when people would say 'Oh I am so sorry to hear about your parents' divorce, I would be like (shrugs) 'What are you talking about? It is not a bad thing. Another privilege I didn't realise. It could be something that could scar you. It didn't scare me. I don't remember most of it, but I didn't feel like my parents' divorce is something that could bother me. So that can't be the reason why I am feeling so sad.

Watch the video below:

Ira shared the video with a lengthy post which read as" 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 overreacting. 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?"