In a disturbing development, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s five-year-old daughter has received rape threats from social media trolls following Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) loss to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the Tuesday night match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
CSK failed to chase a 168-run target, losing the game by 10 runs. Dhoni’s wife, Sakshi, got the threats on her Instagram account.
The threats created an outrage on social media, especially from women, as support poured in for the Dhonis, especially little Ziva.
Actor-turned-politician Nagma tweeted, “Where are we headed as a Nation? It’s disgusting Dhoni’s 5-Year-Old Daughter Ziva is Getting Rape Threats after CSK Lost IPL Match to KKR. Mr #PM what is this happening In our country?? [sic]”
Sowmya Reddy, member of the legislative assembly (MLA) from Karnataka, said, “This is just nasty! What’s happening to our country? Where are we heading?”
Rajya Sabha [upper house of the bicameral Indian parliament] lawmaker Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, “This has to be the most disgusting example of how social media platforms are being misused.”
Fans have often taken out their ire on the players. In earlier days, they have even pelted stones at players’ homes, burnt posters and shouted abuses.
However, targeting the daughter of a player in such a way has been unheard of before.
