The Delhi Commission for Women on Tuesday took suo motu cognisance of reports of rape threats to the nine-month-old daughter of Indian men’s cricket team captain Virat Kohli and actor Anushka Sharma.
Swati Maliwal, the chairperson of the commission, has issued a notice to the Delhi Police. Maliwal urged the police to explain the action taken in the case.
In a tweet, Maliwal said that the rape threats were “extremely shameful”.
“This team has made us feel proud thousands of times, why such obnoxious behaviour when it lost?” she asked.
The Delhi Commission for Women has sought a copy of the first information report and details about the accused persons that have been identified and arrested.
“If no accused has been arrested, please provide the details of steps taken by Delhi Police to arrest the accused,” the notice said.
The panel also sought a detailed action taken report in the matter by November 8.
An unidentified officer of the Cyber Cell told The Indian Express that the police was doing an analysis of the tweets and the handles which posted them.
A Twitter handle @criccrazygirl had on Sunday posted a tweet threatening to rape Kohli’s daughter. Several people claimed that the handle was a Pakistani bot account.
However, fact-checking website Alt News cited the account’s unique Twitter ID and its past activity to state that the account appeared to be from India.
On October 30, Kohli had defended pacer Mohammed Shami, who was abused on social media following the team’s loss to Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Shami is the only Muslim player in India’s 15-member World Cup squad.
“Attacking someone over their religion is the most, I would say, pathetic thing that a human being can do,” Kohli had said at an online interaction from Dubai. “We [the team] stand by him fully. We are backing him 200 per cent. And all those who have attacked can come in more force if they want to... Our brotherhood, our friendship within the team and nothing can be shaken.”
On Tuesday evening, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi posted a tweet lending support to Kohli.
“Dear Virat, these people are filled with hate because nobody gives them any love,” he said. “Forgive them. Protect the team.”
Also read: Attacking someone over religion is pathetic, says Virat Kohli in support of Mohammed Shami
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