The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) informed on Tuesday it had taken suo motu cognisance of media reports of online threats being made to Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli’s family, including his nine-month-old daughter. Issuing a notice to the Delhi Police, the women’s body described this as a matter of “serious concern,” which, it said, deserves “immediate attention.”
“DCW has issued a notice to police over a threat made on Twitter to rape Virat Kohli and Anushka Sharma’s daughter. Our chairperson Swati Maliwal has called this ‘shameful,’ and called for immediate arrest of the accused,” the commission posted on Twitter, sharing an image of its letter addressed to the cyber-crime branch of the Delhi Police.
In particular, the commission took note of a tweet posted by a user threatening to rape the couple’s daughter. The post was made from the account @Criccrazygirl; the handle has since been deleted. However, some netizens have claimed that the tweet was made from a Pakistani account.
In its notice to the police, the DCW sought to be informed, by November 8, on the following counts: Copy of FIR registered in the matter, details of accused identified and arrested, details of steps taken to arrest the accused if no arrest made thus far, and detailed action taken report.
While Kohli’s captaincy, and the Indian team’s performance at the ongoing World Twenty20 event in the UAE has triggered criticism from fans, it was his support for teammate Mohammed Shami that triggered the ire of a section of social media. On October 30, a day before India’s second match in the tournament, against New Zealand, the India number three had thrown his weight behind pacer Shami, the only player Muslim in the side, following the team’s 10-wicket defeat in its opening fixture vs arch-rivals Pakistan, on October 24.