Loose Women’s Khan thanks her fans

Loose Women panellist Saira Khan has thanked fans for their overwhelming support after revealing she was sexually abused by a family member at 13 years old.Khan broke down as she made the admission on Thursday’s show, before encouraging women and children who have found themselves in similar situations to seek help.Addressing the outpouring of support from viewers, Friday’s host Kay Adams read out a statement from Khan, who said she feels “lucky” to have been able to deal with the incident.“The outpouring of personal stories from people who have been through this has been overwhelming thank you for sharing,” the statement read.“It’s vital in raising awareness and helping others.“I don’t feel brave, I feel lucky and grateful that I was able to deal with it, something that I know many cannot.” The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (NAPAC) thanked Khan for helping to raise awareness and said they had been left “overwhelmed” by people getting in contact for support.Khan opened up about the ordeal during a discussion on U2 frontman Bono being honoured at the upcoming Glamour Women of the Year Awards.The former Celebrity Big Brother contestant said she felt Mukhtar Mai – a Pakistani woman who was gang raped in her village and forced to walk naked through the streets – should have been recognised.Khan said: “I’ve never talked about this before, and this woman inspired me.At 13-years-old a male member of my family, who has died now, came in and did things.“I would never have talked about it but I felt I had to because of what’s going on with this woman.”Khan broke down in tears as she continued: “[Mai] says here ‘I just want to be a voice of these women who face circumstances similar to what I did’ and she just inspired me to talk about something that happened to me that is just wrong.”Following the admission, viewers expressed their “respect” for Khan with one writing: “Huge respect to @IamSairaKhan for speaking out about her upsetting past on @LooseWomen.Such a horrible ideal.”Another posted: “Saira on Loose Women is unbelievable she should be so proud she’s spoken out.”A third said: “Saira is beyond inspirational so brave to speak about such a personal topic.All I can say is thank you.”l Police are hunting a man over two “terrifying” sex assaults in Clapham which they believe are linked.Scotland Yard today said an incident in which a woman was forced to fight off a sex attacker with her keys is also being linked to another assault.The Met has now released CCTV images of a man wanted in connection with both incidents.In the first, the 27-year-old victim was attacked from behind in the early hours of June 26.A man forced his victim into the communal area of a building in Klea Avenue at 2am where he seriously assaulted her.The attack is now being linked to another in which a woman was followed into a building in Clapham Common South Side in the early hours of May 22.The victim was attacked before managing to fight off the man, who fled the scene.Police said they now want to speak to an Asian man, between 25 and 35 years old.