'My tuition teacher had his hands in my underpants': When Taarak Mehta actress Munmun Dutta recounted incidents of facing sexual harassment

In 2017 when the #MeToo movement caught momentum in India, amongst many actresses who opened up about being a victim of sexual harassment was Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah's Munmun Dutta. In a long post on her social media account, Munmun had shared her experiences of facing sexual assaults from her neighbour uncle, older cousin and teachers while she was growing up. (Photo: Instagram)

The actress, who is seen as Babita in the sitcom Taarak Mehta, shared "#MeToo...Yes...#Metoo...Sharing a post like this and joining the global awareness on sexual assaults on women all over the world and showing solidarity to each and every woman who sailed on the same boat , shows the magnitude of the problem. M surprised that some 'good ' men are shocked to see the number of women who have come out and shared their #metoo experiences. NO DON'T BE. This is happening in your own backyard, in your own house, with your own sister, daughter, mother, wife or even your maid ... Gain their trust and ask them. You will be surprised at their answers.. You will be surprised with their stories." (Photo: Instagram)

It wasn't easy for the actress to recount some of her horrid childhood experiences as she wrote, "Writing something like this brings me to tears reliving those memories as a little girl when I was scared of the neighbourhood uncle and his prying eyes who at any given opportunity would grope me and threaten me not to speak about this to anyone...OR my much older cousins who would eye me differently than their own daughters." (Photo: Instagram)

She continued how she was scared of "the man who saw me at the hospital when I was born and 13 years later he thought it's appropriate for him to touch my body because I was a growing teenager and my body had changed..." (Photo: Instagram)

Recounting her experiences further, Munmun had shared that she was even afraid of "my tuition teacher who had his hands in my underpants ....... OR this another teacher, whom I tied Rakhi to, would scold the female students in the class by pulling their bra straps and slapping on their breasts .... . OR that man in the train station who gropes U ... Why ?? Because you're too young and scared to speak up. So scared that you can feel your stomach getting twisted inside and throat getting choked up ... you don't know how you are going to explain it to your parents or you're too shy to utter a word to anyone..." (Photo: Instagram)

In her candid account, the actress shared that the consequence of such abuse led her to turn against men and it is the reason why she has opened up about her experiences. She said, "And then you start developing that deep rooted hatred towards men ... Because you know they're the culprit who made you feel this way.. That disgusting, twisted feeling inside which takes years to overcome .... M happy to be another voice joining this movement and make people realise that I was not spared either." (Photo: Instagram)

Munmun concluded the note by sharing how proud she is of herself and unlike her growing up years where she'd be scared. She wrote, "But TODAY I will rip apart any man who even remotely tries anything on me. I AM PROUD OF WHO I AM..." (Photo: Instagram)