Rape Threat To Virat Kohli's Daughter: Cricket Fandom Has Been Reduced To Hostility

Rape threat to Virat Kohli daughter: You know cricket fandom has hit a new low in our country when children of crickets are sent rape threats by upset fans. For two consecutive years, two of India's most prominent cricketers had to endure this horrid ordeal, simply because their teams failed to perform as per the fans' expectations. What does this say about our understanding of a sport that is essentially called a "Gentleman's Game"?

A Twitter handle by the name of @Criccrazyygirl had allegedly issued a rape threat against Kohli's daughter, who is barely 10 months old after team India lost its T20 match against New Zealand. The tweet stands deleted as of now, however, several people have shared screenshots of the tweet, demanding action against the account and the person who runs it.

The threat came after team India lost its second match back-to-back at the ongoing T20 World Cup in Dubai on October 31. Fans were already upset after India lost to Pakistan in the same tournament by 10 wickets. So a loss at hands of team New Zealand only enraged them further. A team that is usually known for its high-performance levels is having a bad tournament. We are not used to seeing team India in such bad shape - dispirited, disengaged and lacking in every possible field on the ground. Yes, it would hurt any cricket fan when every single player of the team that you back fails to click.

But does that mean that we take the defeat personally? What gives any fan the right to target children of players?

The abuse for Kohli's daughter came days after he took a stand for teammate Mohammed Shami who was targetted by crazed fans due to his religious identity in the aftermath of the match with Pakistan. Mixing religion and nationalism with sports is never a great idea, but even then, there is a line that shouldn't be crossed for the sake of dignity.

This incident is sadly not an isolated one. Last year, the daughter of Chennai Super Kings' skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni was also sent rape threats by a teen in Gujarat after the team performed poorly at the Indian Premier League. The young boy was later arrested and had confessed to posting the abusive messages.

It is our collective shame if two young girls are being sent rape threats and all we can do is slam such comments, while social media trolls continue with their brazen behaviour. Cricket is about compassion, unity and sportsman spirit, as much as it is about passion. Have cricket fans forgotten the very virtues in which this game is rooted? Do they even qualify to be called fans, if all it takes is one bad tournament, one humiliating defeat on the field for them to demand blood and instigate sexual violence?

Perhaps people do not take rape threats seriously, and that is a big part of the problem in India. Rape is a horrific crime, which leaves indelible scars on the lives of survivors and those close to them. No person should have to even imagine themselves being subjected to this crime, and yet here some fans are, explicitly telling parents of young children that they want to sexually harm their children. We expect cricketers to play for their nation, but what does the nation do, when such threats are levied? Do we teach young women and men about the ethics of sports? Do we explain the boundaries of fandom to them?

Anonymity emboldens many to say things that are dangerous, without a shred of accountability and that needs to change. We need to pressure agencies to take strict actions against accounts that levy such threats and then we need to talk to young fans around us to make them understand that issuing rape threats to young girls in the name of cricket doesn't make them great fans, it simply makes them an abusive person.

Views expressed are the author's own.

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