'He Told Me He Was My Dad': Anjali Anand Reveals She Was Sexually Harassed By Dance Teacher At The Age Of 8

Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani actress Anjali Anand recently opened up on her traumatic childhood experience and revealed that she was sexually harassed by her dance teacher for several years and it began when she was 8-years-old, right after the death of her father. She stated that for the longest time she did not realise what was happening to her, and the experience left a permanent scar on her mind.

During an interview with Hauterrfly, Anjali shared, “It was my dance teacher. I was 8 and it was just after my dad passed away. He told me he was my dad, and I believed him, because I didn’t know. He started very slowly. He started with a peck on the cheek, a peck on the lips, and he said ‘This is what dads do’. For the longest time, I did not know what a father-daughter equation was actually like. I believed whatever he said. He would also buy me chocolates and games, and fulfill my demands. So I thought that was normal.”

Revealing how her dance teacher controlled her life, she added, “He wouldn’t let me keep my hair open. He would not let me wear women’s clothing, he would make me wear his old t-shirts so that I don’t look appealing to other men. He used to keep a tab on my itemised billing, he used to check what messages I am sending and he used to get those printed. My tuition was also near his place. He would even take me for trips outside the city. He would tell me we will have babies and stuff like that. All this happened with me from the age of 8 till I was 13-14.”

Anjali explained that her mother and two elder sisters were busy mourning the demise of her father, and that is why even they did not interfere in her life as they thought the dance was keeping her happy.

The turning point in Anjali’s life came when she met a boy at her sister’s wedding. “The guy had a crush on me, he started talking to me, and that is when I realised that this feels more normal. And it was then that I understood that whatever was happening to me until then was wrong. I just felt stuck.”

“I remember, I had thanked my first boyfriend for saving me. He actually saved me back then because I realised what the correct thing, the correct feeling was,” she added.

Anjali first shot to fame with the television show, Kulfi Kumar Bajewala, opposite Mohit Malik. And it was her stint in Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt’s Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahani which propelled her to fame and success. She was last seen in the 2025 show, Dabba Cartel.