chaman recollects his bitter memories...

'I was sexually abused at the age of nine'

Ravi Gossain

Ravi Gossain plays a child molester in Chuppi, a forthcoming film. It brings back bitter memories...

Sapana Patil Poojary

Ravi Gossain was much appreciated for his comic capers in Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin. The actor will now be seen as a child molester in a forthcoming film called Chuppi. The movie deals with the issue of child sexual abuse in India. It stars Ravi Gossain as the villain who molests his sister's (played by Jaya Bhattacharya) daughter. Kabir Sadanand and Nandana Sen form the supporting cast.

The actor tells us why he chose to do the film. "Child sexual abuse is rampant and the worst part is that the victims don't realise it. Children often don't know the difference between a good touch and a bad one," says Ravi. "At first, I was disturbed to hear that I had to molest my niece in the film. In fact, I had refused to do Chuppi. For, I was sexually abused too at the age of nine. And the film brought back horrific memories. But then I realised that very few films are made on such subjects. So, I felt I must be part of Chuppi. After all, it's a big step towards spreading awareness about child sexual abuse."

Ravi recalls: "There was this 70-year-old man who visited our neighbours. He made sexual advances at children. I was his victim a couple of times. He would ask children to sit on his lap, touch their cheeks and try to kiss them. But I was only nine years old then, so I didn't know what was happening. All I knew was that I didn't like what he did and tried to keep away from him. Often children don't share such experiences with their parents. For instance, although we had a healthy atmosphere at home, I couldn't muster up the courage to talk about it with my parents."

The actor stresses the need for society to realise that child sexual abuse is for real unlike most parents' belief that it is 'a figment of children's imagination'. "The film emphasises this very fact. It also attempts to make children realise the difference between good and bad touch. Often, parents do not take the child's allegations seriously as they feel a family member cannot commit such a crime. Chuppi makes it clear that child sexual abuse is a real and heinous crime," says Ravi.


• There was this 70-year-old man who visited our neighbours. He made sexual advances at children. I was his victim a couple of times —Ravi Gossain

thanks for sharing limey jee 😃

tnan for sharing with us😊

🤢 i have seen one very old man making lewd comments to any female, no matter what was their age,he used to sit by the road side, and continue, no matter what
another experience was one elderly person who used to beat so bad ,girls at the wrong places 😡 🤢

i can't believe it that this guy in the photograph is chaman as chaman was such a bad looking person whereas in looks this one is much better.

eeek 😕

thanks for sharing