Dev Alahan has found out the shocking truth on Coronation Street that his daughter Asha has been using skin lightening cream to look paler.
The shop owner was distressed to see his daughter's red raw arms, a reaction to using the cream she had ordered online using his credit card.
When 13-year-old Asha confessed she'd bought the cream after a recent trip to India, a distraught Dev tore down posters she had on the walls of Bollywood idols and shouted at her that it had to stop.
"It's only like a white girl using fake tan," she told him.
When Dev asked if she wanted to be white she replied that she was proud to be Indian.
"I'm proud to be British as well," she said.
"I just want lighter skin."
Asham, who returned from India in August, has been struggling with low self-esteem, hating what she's sees in the mirror, and has been the target of bullies at school while working on the school musical.
She's been hiding her bleeding arms under long-sleeved tops.
Asha, played since 2009 by 17-year-old Tanisha Gorey, is the daughter of corner shop owner Dev and the late Sunita Alahan.
Shortly after she and Aadi were born in January 2016 their mum decided to leave Weatherfield with the twins but they returned in 2009 when Sunita reunited with Dev.
Tragically, in 2013 the twins lost their mum when Sunita was injured in the Rovers Return fire started by her ex lover Karl Munro.
Dev, played by Jimmi Harkishin, has failed to find another true love after Sunita, played by Shobna Gulati, but he found a loyal friend in Mary Taylor, played by Patti Clare, who has cared for him and his children.
Next week Dev takes Asha to see Dr Gaddas who assesses her sore arms and suggests counselling is the way forward for the troubled teen.
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