Former India captain Virat Kohli, a key member of India’s T20 World Cup team in Australia, will not file an official complaint with the team hotel in Perth after an unidentified person filmed and posted a video of his room on Instagram, The Indian Express has learnt.
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Kohli, in a post on Instagram, said the video “made me feel very paranoid about my privacy”. Later, the hotel — Crown Perth — issued a statement that the individuals involved in shooting the video were “stood down” and that the original video was removed from the social media platform.
A source from the team said Kohli would not pursue the matter further. “The team management asked Kohli if he wanted to file an official complaint with the hotel. However, he didn’t want to. So from his point of view, the issue won’t be pursued further,” the source said.
In the video, titled ‘King Kohli’s Hotel Room’, there appears to be more than one person in the room. A person is seen walking around and filming items kept on the table, as well as shoes, an open suitcase containing the Team India kit, the contents of a cupboard in the bathroom and Kohli’s personal belongings in different parts of the room.
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In his post on Instagram, Kohli said, “I understand that fans get happy and excited seeing their favourite players and get excited to meet them and I’ve always appreciated that. But this video here is appalling and it’s made me feel very paranoid about my privacy.”
“If I cannot have privacy in my own hotel room, then where can I really expect any personal space at all? I’m NOT okay with this kind of fanaticism and absolute invasion of privacy. Please respect people’s privacy and not treat them as a commodity for entertainment,” he wrote in his post.
Australian opener David Warner too expressed anger at the incident.
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“This is ridiculous, totally unacceptable. Was this @crownperth?,” Warner commented on Kohli’s post.
Kohli’s wife and actor Anushka Sharma also took to Instagram and called the incident an “absolute disgrace” and “violation of a human being”.
“Have experienced a few incidents where fans have shown no compassion or grace in the past, but this really is the worst thing. An absolute disgrace and violation of a human being, and anyone who sees this and thinks ‘celebrity ho! Toh deal karna padega (a celebrity will have to deal with such things)’ should know that you are also part of the problem,” she said in her post.
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“Exercising some self-control helps everyone. Also, if this is happening in your bedroom then where is the line,” she wrote.
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The Indian team travelled from Perth to Adelaide on Monday after the loss to South Africa on Sunday evening. India will play Bangladesh on Wednesday.
The Crown Perth, the hotel the Indian team stayed at, in a statement said: “…we unreservedly apologise to the guest involved and will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure this remains an isolated incident… The individuals involved have been stood down and removed from the Crown account… we are also cooperating with the Indian Cricket Team and the International Cricket Council to convey our apologies and will continue to work with them as we progress the investigation.”
