"It was because I was 'too westernised'."
Celina Jaitly highlighted the harsh reality of victim shaming when a man exposed his private parts when she was a child and she was blamed for it.
Her comments came amid ongoing protests over the rape and murder of a female doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.
In a post on X, Celina shared a disturbing incident from when she was in the sixth grade.
Titled The Victim is Always at Fault, Celina said it was about time women stood up and asked for their right to be protected.
She recounted how a group of boys from a nearby university would target her daily.
These boys followed her school rickshaw every day.
They made inappropriate catcalls and even threw stones at her to grab her attention.
Celina wrote: “I pretended not to notice them and a few days later because of that they started throwing stones at me in the middle of the road to get my attention.
“Not one bystander batted an eye.
“I was told by a teacher: It was because I was ‘too westernised and did not wear loose clothes and did not tie my hair in two braids with oil it was my fault!'”
The constant harassment had a lasting impact on her.
She emphasised how such experiences are often met with victim shaming, making the situation even more painful.
Celina added: “It was also at this age when a man first flashed his private parts to me while waiting for the school rickshaw in the morning.
“For many years I blamed myself for this incident which I kept to myself running the words of the teacher again and again in my mind that it was MY FAULT!”
Celina also described a disturbing incident where a teacher unfairly labelled her as having a “loose character”.
When she was in Class 11, the actress said the university boys cut the wires on her scooter because she ignored them.
They kept bothering her, calling her names, and leaving lewd notes on her vehicle.
After her protective male classmates informed the teaching staff about the harassment she was facing, Celina said the class teacher blamed her.
The teacher said she was a “forward type of girl, riding a scooty and wearing jeans to extra classes with short open hair”.
The actor wrote:
“I still remember that day jumping off my scooty to save myself because of my brake wires being cut off.”
“I was hurt badly and yet it was my fault.
“My Scooty was damaged… I was both physically and psychologically hurt… And I was told it was MY FAULT!”
THE VICTIM IS ALWAYS AT FAULT : In this pic I was in 6th grade only when boys from a nearby university started to wait outside my school.They would follow the school rickshaw making catcalls all the way home everyday. I pretended not to notice them and few days later because of… pic.twitter.com/cIrJmiDbQt
— Celina Jaitly (@CelinaJaitly) August 17, 2024
Celina Jaitly ended her note by sharing that her grandfather had to accompany her to and from school.
She stated: “It’s time to stand up and ask for our right to be protected WE ARE NOT AT FAULT! #kolkatadoctordeath.
“I will never understand why it is more shameful to be raped than to be a rapist.
“Rape is the only crime in which the victim gets accused.
“A victim waits for 15 years to get justice and the culprit gets just 10 years of imprisonment.”
“The path to justice is painfully, heartbreakingly and unsafely slow… We cry tears of blood as we wait to be safe, protected and free!”
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