Virat, Anushka's 10-month-old daughter receives rape threats after he defends Shami

After Shami, the fast bowler and only Muslim player on India’s team was abused on social media following its T20 World Cup defeat against Pakistan, Kohli launched a blistering attack in response to his team’s critics, blasting them as “spineless” and “pathetic”, according to AlJazeera.

Now, he is on the receiving end of hate and abuses from Indian extremists, who have gone as far as issuing rape threats against his 10-month-old daughter and reportedly sharing photos of her online, according to Free Press Kashmir.

Former pop culture editor at DNA, Andre Borges has tweeted, “Kohli and Anushka’s 10-month-old daughter is getting rape threats because he decided to stand by his Muslim teammate, call out bigotry, and say discrimination on the basis of religion is wrong.”

While NDTV and Gulf News columnist Swati Chaturvedi expressed her desire to “puke” after coming across the disgusting threats against a toddler because of her father’s stand against “bigotry” and support for his teammate. She asserted, “These bigots belong in jail.”

Netizens are now convinced that “Modi’s India” is propagating extremist behaviours and hatred towards minorities by giving leeway to miscreants, who are now voicing their filth on social media without the fear of repercussions.

In October last year, the very toxicity and vile nature of extremism had taken a similar and frightening turn after an Instagram user sent rape threats to MS Dhoni's then five-year-old daughter. The disturbing threat surfaced after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) lost against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, according to the Free Press Journal.

In Uttar Pradesh, three Kashmiri students were also arrested and booked for sedition recently after cheering for Pakistan following their win against the match. In the colleges of Punjab, Kashmiri students were also beaten and their rooms were ransacked by miscreants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

In his statement, Kohli had said, “There’s a good reason why we are playing on the field and not a bunch of spineless people on social media that have no courage to actually speak to any individual in person.” He added, “It has become a social pandemic in today’s world, which is so unfortunate and so sad to see because this is literally the lowest level of human potential that one can operate at. And that’s how I look at these people.”

Kohli reminded everyone that attacking someone for their religion was the most “pathetic thing a human being can do.” Assuring that this discrimination was a result of people taking out their frustrations, Kohli concluded, “If people can overlook that [Shami’s contributions] and his passion for the country, honestly, I don’t want to waste even one minute of my life on them. We stand by him fully. We back him 200%. Our brotherhood cannot be shaken,” he assured.

Bollywood actor Swara Bhaskar re-tweeted his sentiments with clapping emojis. In a follow-up tweet, she shared comments from the “bigots” condemning abuse of Shami to reinstate how bigotry had now superseded nationalism. She also shared a tweet by Druv Rathee, who pointed out after India’s loss against New Zealand: “Last match: Arrest these anti-nationals who are cheering on India's loss. Today's match: We are happy that India lost, this is what Kohli deserved for being secular and woke.”

Another Twitter user, Adil Mogal lamented, “they are giving rape threats to a 10-month-old baby just because her dad took a stand for his fellow Muslim teammate! If not rotten, what would you call this society?” One more chimed in saying, “TW: Rape. Makes me uneasy just reading this on a screen. It’s insane to think that these people actually exist and most likely walk around us every day."

After India’s defeat in ICC Men’s World Cup 2021 against Pakistan, Mohammad Shami was abused and trolled on social media platforms for being a Muslim and thus possibly, a ‘traitor’. The abuse was condemned by various netizens and members of the Indian cricket team.

While hurling abuses at Kohli, Hindutva extremists also took digs at his stance on avoiding fire-crackers on Diwali for environmental concerns by sharing photos of his wife Anushka Sharma.

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