Actress Celina Jaitly shared her experience of harassment in school, highlighting the painful reality of victim-shaming. In a social media post, the actress recalled an incident that happened in class six, describing how boys from a nearby university used to harass her. She said they would follow her school rickshaw daily, tease her and even throw stones to get her attention.

Selina claims that despite this appalling behaviour, no passersby intervened. When she told her teacher about the harassment, she was told it was her fault because she was “too Westernised”, didn’t wear loose clothes and didn’t oil her hair.

In the post, the ‘No Entry’ actress also mentioned her own traumatic incident in Class 11. The same group of boys started targeting her scooty, cutting its brake wires in retaliation for not acknowledging their efforts. Yet, her class teacher told her that her “promiscuous” behaviour – riding a scooty, wearing jeans and keeping her hair open – was the reason for the boys’ behaviour.

This led to an incident where she had to jump off her scooty to avoid an accident due to faulty brakes. Despite the physical and mental damage, she was again told that it was her fault.

Celina Jaitly highlighted the pain of her grandfather, a retired colonel, who had to help her get to and from school due to constant harassment.

The actor wrote, “I still remember those rude boys who chased me and even damaged my scooty. They passed derogatory comments and mocked my retired colonel grandfather. Nana stood and stared at them and then he turned away shaking his head and I could read his face as he walked away with me. He had hatred in his heart for the people for whom he gave his life.”

At the end of the post, Jaitly emphasised the need to stand up for one’s rights and challenge the victim-blaming narrative. “It’s time we stand up and raise our voices to protect our rights. It’s not our fault!” reads Celina Jaitly’s post.

As Selena read the comments on her post, where many women said they could relate to her experience, she wrote, “I am so saddened to see that almost every woman, girl commenting here writes “I relate” or “I have gone through a similar experience”. Why do we have to go through this? What did we do wrong… what is our fault? We have always been victims… so much so that we were taught to live this as a reality… my heart is breaking for all my sisters and all the little girls who will grow up experiencing this”.

The actor’s post comes amid ongoing nationwide protests against the Kolkata rape-murder incident.