In a heartbreaking interview, successful actor Shweta Tiwari spoke about how her two failed marriages and choices in men impacted her kids and their childhood. She also shared how as a mother, she feels she failed to protect her kids’ innocence during her battle against an abusive marriage. Her courage and vulnerabilities tell us why it is never easy for women to move out of toxic marriage.
Shweta, was only 19 years old when she married Bhojpuri actor Raja Chaudhary. She had her first child – Palak Tiwari – from her first marriage before she decided to call it off and filed a legal case of domestic violence against her husband.
Sadly, Shweta’s second marriage with Abhinav Kohli also didn’t end up well. For the past two years, the couple is living separately and Shweta has filed a legal case of domestic abuse against Abhinav. Shweta and Abhinav are parents to Reyaansh Kohli who’s four years old.
While talking about her ordeal and how brave her kids have been, Shweta mentioned that
“Both my kids have a habit of hiding their pain. They somehow don’t show me that they are sad. I don’t understand how are they both so happy when so much is happening around them. So I feel sometimes, are they trying to hide?”
She also shared how her daughter Palak was just six years old when she saw her father hitting her mother. She further added how her 4-year-old son knows the meaning of police visits and court cases at such an innocent age. While sharing the specific details, she mentioned:
“She saw me getting beaten up, she saw women coming. She has seen everything when she was just 6 years old and I had decided to take this step. Palak has seen all that trauma, police coming to the house, her mom going to the police. My son, he is just 4 years old and he knows about police, judges and it is not just because of me.”
She further shares how she wants both her kids to grow up as happy human beings, but feels she failed miserably for not being able to provide them a simple childhood. Expressing her helplessness with the legal battles, Shweta shares how seeking legal help is the only way she’s left with at the end of her relationships:
“I have no other way out. No matter how much I want to save my kids from this situation, I can’t. Because how else can I do this, this is the only way for me to save myself. For a happy life and to get out of the mess that I am in, there is only one way. That is to be with my kids and go to the police and court. Till today I can’t understand how to save my kids from this situation.”
She further added,
“I know my kids are in this mess because of me. It’s because I chose the wrong men. That was my fault, not theirs. But they are going through this, with me, strong and smiling. I never tell them, ‘don’t miss your fathers’. I never tell them don’t talk to them. But they don’t and I don’t know why. Because they get scared, they are scared of this trauma, they want to be happy and I don’t blame them for it.”
Sometime back, Shweta had mentioned how she has been blamed for her failed marriages:
“It’s easy for people to say, ‘Ladki ne hi kuch kiya hoga ya usme hi koi problem hogi, tabhi doosri shaadi bhi nahi chal payi’.”
She used her story as an example to tell everyone why one should not silently suffer abuse in a marriage.
“Jab maine pehli baar step liya tha, mujhe bohut logo ne bohut kuch kahan tha aur aaj tak kehte hai ke ‘apne baachon ke bare mein toh socha hota, apni beti ke bare mein to socha hota’. Par nahi, maine jo kuch bhi kiya usse meri beti bohut samajhdaar, aur strong bani hai. Meri beti ko sahi galat ka farak samajh mein aaya”
Translated: “When I took the first step, a lot of people told me ‘think about your children, think about your daughter’. But, I did not listen to them. Whatever I did has made my daughter wiser, intelligent, and strong. My daughter understood the difference between right and wrong,”
Shweta’s struggle to create a life of dignity for herself and her kids is not only her story; it is the story of many other women, who gather the courage to move out of their toxic marriage.
At IFORHER, we wish strength and hope to every woman who is struggling in an abusive marriage but is unable to take a stand for herself. Just because she doesn’t want to ruin her kids’ childhood! We want these women to know that their stand against abusive marriage may take away their kids’ innocence, but it definitely teaches them the most valuable life lesson: To take a stand for themselves when others abuse them!