Celina Jaitly says man ‘flashed private parts’ to her when she was in Class 6

As the nation mourns the rape and murder of Kolkata post-graduate intern doctor, several Bollywood stars such as Alia Bhatt, Vijay Varma and more have condemned the heinous crime. Joining the chorus, actress Celina Jaitly has shared sexual assault incidents from her childhood and said “the victim is always at fault” according to the society.
Taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter), Celina shared a picture from when she was in Class 6 and said it was the same time when the catcalling began. However, she shared, the bystanders did not bat an eye, and instead she was told by her teacher that it happened to her because she was “too westernised”.
She also shared that it was the same age when a man first flashed his private parts to her.
“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 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!” Celina’s post read.
“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!” it added.
In 11th grade, Celina said, she remembers they cut the wire of her scooty’s brakes “because I was not acknowledging the university boys who heckled and called me rude names & left lewd notes on my scooty”.
The actress said her male classmates got scared for her and told the teachers, but the class teacher called Celina and told her “You come across as a FORWARD type of girl, riding a scooty and wearing jeans to extra classes with short open hair that’s why boys think you are of a loose character.”
“It was always my fault. 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!” she wrote.
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 shared that her retired Colonel Grandfather, who fought two wars for our country, in his old age had to take to escorting her back n forth to school.
“I still remember those rude boys who chased me even damaging my scooty they also passed derogatory remarks on my retired colonel grandfather making fun of him,” she said.
She added: “Nana stood and stared at them and then he turned away shook his head and I could read his face as he walked away with me. His disgust at the very people he laid his life on line for.”
“It’s time to stand up and ask for our right to be protected WE ARE NOT AT FAULT!”