Daisy Irani, child actor of films like Boot Polish and Naya Daur, says she was raped at the age of six

Yesteryear child actor Daisy Irani has spoken out about sexual abuse in Hindi film industry. In an interview with Mumbai Mirror, Irani said she was raped by a family acquaintance (who was acting as her guardian) when she was six years old, while they were in Chennai for a film’s shoot. Daisy Irani is one of the biggest child stars the Indian film industry has ever seen. During the 1950s and 1960s she starred in a number of major hit films like Boot Polish, Naya Daur, Dhool Ka Phool to name a few, along with the biggest of the biggest names in Bollywood. [caption id=“attachment_4402151” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Daisy Irani, now and then. Image courtesy Facebook[/caption] _Also read: Daisy Irani, Sridevi, Shakuntala Devi's stories reveal dark side of limelight on child prodigies_ Recalling the incident, Irani told Mirror, “The man who did this was supposed to be my guardian. He accompanied me to a film shoot (Hum Panchhi Ek Dal Ke) in Madras [sic]. One night in the hotel room he violated me, hit me with a belt and warned me that he would kill me if I ever told anyone about what had happened.” The accused in question — a man Irani identified as ‘Nazar’ — has since died; he was related to the iconic singer Zohrabai Ambalewaali and had a considerable network of contacts within the film industry. Daisy Irani is the sister of popular screenwriter and former child star Honey Irani (mother of Farhan and Zoya Akhtar) and Menka Irani (mother of Farah and Sajid Khan); she says she became really “protective” of her sisters after her rape. On being asked whether this was the beginning of the #MeToo campaign in India, she said she chose to speak out more for the sake of child actors working in film and TV industry these days. She wants to make the parents of those child actors aware of what happens behind the spotlight. She also said that child actors have it tough and in a majority of cases, they have been taken advantage of. Daisy Irani was last seen in Farah Khan’s Shah Rukh Khan-Deepika Padukone multi-starrer Happy New Year.