Mumbai police’s cyber cell has arrested a 23-year-old man from Hyderabad for allegedly giving online rape threats to the daughter of Indian cricket captain Virat Kohli following the team's loss to Pakistan in the T20 World Cup, reported The News Minute (TNM).
The man has been identified as Akubathini Ramnagesh from Rangareddy, Hyderabad. As per TNM, he had graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Hyderabad around two years ago, and was employed as a software engineer with a top food delivery app firm in Bengaluru.
Ramnagesh was reportedly being paid well at this job but had recently quit in order to prepare for a master's degree in the United States.
His father said that he did not know what had caused his son to do this, adding that the family was unaware of it till policemen came to their house, reported The Times of India.
Indrakaran police station Sub Inspector Rajesh Naik told TNM that is being taken to Mumbai and is accompanied by his father.
More Details
The police complaint was filed by Kohli's manager – with his authorisation – at Western Region Cyber Police station, Bandra, against a Twitter handle for posting an objectionable tweet on social media about Virat Kohli's 10-month-old daughter.
A press release put out by the police states that screenshots of the tweet were widely circulated on WhatsApp and other social media. The Western Region Cyber Police Thane has registered the case under Section 354 (a) 506, 500 including Section 67, 67 (b) of IT Act.
Background
The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) had on Tuesday, 2 November, issued a notice to the Delhi Police Cyber Crime cell over online rape threats to the nine-month-old daughter of Indian men's cricket team captain Virat Kohli's.
The Commission has taken sou-moto cognisance of media reports on rape threats to Kohli's daughter.
The DCW directed the Cyber Crime to register an FIR, track down and arrest the alleged perpetrator, their press release stated.
The barbaric tweet, by now-deleted account @Criccrazyygirl, called for the toddler's photo to be revealed while issuing a rape threat. As of 1 November, the handle stands deleted from Twitter.
The tweet comes at a time when captain Kohli is facing vitriolic trolling for speaking in support of his Muslim teammate Mohammed Shami, who was attacked online after the cricket team faced a 10-wicket defeat against Pakistan in the ongoing Men's T20 World Cup.
(With inputs from The News Minute and The Times of India.)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)