Shameless online trolls threatened to rape Virat Kohli’s nine-month-old daughter and Anushka Sharma, a Bollywood actress.
The threats were made via Twitter and began to appear after India’s loss to arch rivals Pakistan at the T20 World Cup in Dubai.
Kohli, who lost by 10 wickets in the match, spoke out on social networking to defend his team mate Mohammed Shami. The bowler, who was the only Muslim player in India’s team, was targeted for his religious beliefs after the dismal performance.
The skipper Kohli decried the trolling Shami, branding anonymous social media users’spineless,’ and now they are turning their toxic focus to Shami and his family.
The daughter of Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli and his wife Anushka Sharma has been threatened online by ‘shameful’ trolls
The Delhi Commission for Women called for police to investigate the abuse of the couple’s nine-month-old daughter
Today, the Delhi Commission for Women called on the Indian capital’s police to respond to online threats.
Swati Maliwal (chairperson of the women’s group) described the online comments against Kohli’s daughter in a very shameful manner.
Ms Maliwal tweeted, “The team has made us proud thousands times, why this silliness when we lose,”
“I have sent notice to Delhi Police. Arrest all those who threatened a 9-month-old girl, with rape!”
After their poor performances and out-dated captaincy at T20 World Cup, the Indian team and Kohli have been widely criticized.
The Indians then lost to Pakistan in a 2-1 defeat to New Zealand.
After losing to Pakistan, online trolls targeted Mohammed Shami, an Indian fast bowler.
Fans were most upset by the team’s performance against Pakistan. Shami, the only Muslim on the team, was subject to a slew of online abuses after the defeat.
Kohli, to his credit, did not give in to the trolling. He used a prematch press conference before the New Zealand fixture, to call out Shami’s anonymous abusers and label them’spineless’.
“Assaulting someone over their religion can be the most deplorable thing one can do as an individual.” This is something very personal and sacred. People vent their frustrations because they don’t understand what we do,” Kohli said to reporters on the eve the Super 12 encounter.
Kohli has supervised a disastrous T20 World Cup campaign in India, where India lost to Pakistan
He reminded Shami and others of Amroha’s passion for playing for the country.
“They don’t understand the fact that Shami has won India many matches in the past few years and has been our primary wicket bowler along Jasprit Bangrah when we come to making an impact on Test cricket,” said Kohli, widely regarded as one of the best batsmen of his generation.
Kohli has stood firm in his defense of team mate Mohammed Shami
‘If people can overlook his passion for the country and that, I honestly don’t want to spend one minute of mine to give any attention; Shami or anyone else on the team does the same. He is supported by the team and we support him 200 percent,” said Kohli, who has appeared in 91 T20 international matches for India and averages 52.72 runs.
“All those who have beaten him can come with more force, but our brotherhood, and our friendship within the team cannot ever be shaken. As captain of the team, I can assure you that these things won’t infiltrate the environment even.0001 per cent. This is a guarantee from my side.
Shami has taken 12 wickets in India’s 14 T20 internationals but has yet to take a wicket at this World Cup. However, he is far from the only player struggling. His team has only taken two wickets at the competition so far.
The right-arm bowler, however, has been successful in other formats. He has 195 Test wickets, and 148 One Day International wickets.
Online abuse has resulted from a humiliating defeat to Pakistan at T20 World Cup.
Anil Kumble, Sachin Tulkar, Virender Singh Sehwag and Virender Selvakar supported Kohli’s defense of Shami. The trolls turned their attention to the captain and his family after he made these comments.
Inzamam-ul Haq, a former captain of Pakistan, has come out to support Kohli, his wife, and daughter.
Inzamam stated, “People need to realize it’s just sport, we might play for different countries but are part of one community.” You have every right criticize Kohli’s captaincy or batting, but no one has the right target a cricketer’s spouse. A few days ago [after India’s defeat by Pakistan]Mohammed Shami experienced something similar. Both victory and loss are part of the game.
Online attack on five-year-old daughter MS Dhoni (ex-India captain)
This is not the first instance of a high-profile Indian cricketer threatening his child with rape.
After an Instagram user sent rape threats, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s five-year old daughter Ziva was attacked online.
Dhoni was a former captain for the national team that won the inaugural 2007 ICC World Twenty20 tournament, among other international honors.
Dhoni’s daughter was however attacked online after Chennai Super Kings lost to Kolkata Knight Riders.
Tomorrow, India will be back in action against Afghanistan in Group Two. On Monday, they will take on Scotland and Namibia.