Was raped by ‘ friend’ at 16: Padma

New York: Padma Lakshmi, a prominent IndianAmerican model host, has alleged that she was raped by her boyfriend at the age of 16, saying she wanted to bring out this secret in the wake of allegations of sexual assault on US Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh.

Lakshmi, a former wife of controversial author Salman Rushdie, explained in an article in The New York Times that she kept quiet for 32 years as she feared fingers would point at her for bringing it upon herself.

The 48- year- old model and actress wrote that she was reminded of her feelings about the incident last week by allegations surrounding US President Donald Trump's choice for the Supreme Court. "I have been turning that incident over in my head throughout the past week, as two women have come forward to detail accusations against the Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh," Lakshmi said in the opinion piece revealing that she was raped on New Year's Eve, just few months after she started dating her boyfriend.

The ' Top Chef' host did not reveal the name of her boyfriend who was a 23- yearold college student at the time. “Christine Blasey Ford ( the first accuser) said he ( Kavanaugh) climbed on her and covered her mouth during an attempted rape when they were both in high school, and Deborah Ramirez ( second accuser) said he exposed himself to her when they were in college,” she wrote.

Lakshmi was critical of President Trump for having questioning the two women. “On Friday, President Trump tweeted that if what Blasey said was true, she would have filed a police report years ago. But I understand why both women would keep this information to themselves,” she said.