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Bhavana Menon on Dileep assault case: 'I am a survivor, not a victim'; Shares her 'traumatic' experience
Bhavana Menon broke her silence and talked about her trauma, fight and her journey from a victim to a survivor.
TRIGGER WARNING
After coming out in January as a survivor in an assault case involving Dileep, Bhavana Menon broke her silence and talked about her trauma, fight and her journey from a victim to a survivor.
In an interview with YouTube channel, 'The Mojo Story', Bhavana Menon said, "It happened in 2017 and my whole life was turned upside down. And my mind was constantly searching for something and somebody to find and like you know so that I can put the blame on and I will have an easy exit because It was constant chaos in my mind. I was constantly asking myself why me and so many questions. For instance, in 2017, my father passed away, so I was thinking if I was alone this wouldn't have happened to me, or if I didn't shoot that day, this wouldn't have happened. So there were so many what-ifs."
She added, "One time I used to think that it's a long nightmare was constantly blaming myself. There were so many times, I desperately wanted to go back to the time before it happened so that I could change everything and my life will be normal again."
Further, Bhavana revealed how her trial turned her from a victim to a survivor, "My trial happened in the year 2020 and I had to go to court for 15 days. Those 15 days when I was in the court, was a whole different level of traumatic experience. So when I came out of the court on the last day, after 15 hearings, I was feeling like a survivor and realised that I am a survivor not a victim anymore. If I survive this, then I'm not just standing up for myself but also for the dignity of all the women who will come after me."
Further, recalling how people were insulting her saying that she had staged all the assault and were blaming her parents, Bhavana said: "I was devastated my dignity was shredded to a million pieces. I wanted to scream top of my lungs and say my parents didn't raise me like that, it was an insult to my family. And because I wasn't on social media, I kinda torched the personal attack but in 2019 when I joined Instagram, I got some really mean messages like why don't you die, why don't you kill yourself, how will you die and all these made me think what did I do."
In January, the actress broke her silence on the assault case involving actor Dileep in a long note on Instagram and received endless support from the Malayalam fraternity including superstars like Mammootty, Mohanlal, Manju Warrier, and others. Opening up about fighting her battle, she said although she is grateful for everyone who stood by her, she felt very lonely despite the strong support extended to her by her family and friends.
For the unversed, Bhavana is addressing the kidnapped, attacked and molested case that took place in Kochi in 2017. Malayalam actor Dileep is said to be the main accused in her assault case.
DISCLAIMER: If you need support or know someone who is struggling with sexual harassment or abuse, please reach out to your nearest mental health specialist, NGO or speak to someone about it. There are several helplines available for the same.
