Ramnagesh Akubathini who tweeted rape threats to Virat Kohli-Anushka Sharma daughter granted bail

Ramnagesh Akubathini, the 23-year-old software engineer, booked for allegedly posting rape threats on Twitter against the infant child of Indian cricketer Virat Kohli and Bollywood actress Anushka Sharma has been granted bail by a Mumbai court on Saturday. .The accused, a State topper and a graduate from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Hyderabad had allegedly posted objectionable tweets against the 10-month-old daughter of Kohli and Sharma after Indian cricket team lost the T20 world cup match on October 24 against Pakistan.The loss had led to online abuses against another cricketer Mohammad Shami who was singled out for his religion.Kohli had, however, sprung to the defence of Shami leading to outrage against the star batsman..Mumbai Police had intercepted Akubathini in Hyderabad and arrested him after the cyber wing of Mumbai Police had registered a case based on a complaint by Kohli's manager on November 8, 2021. .Akubathini was produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate Court at Bandra on November 11, 2021 when the public prosecutor informed the Court that Akubathini had constantly altered his profile on social media to troll the cricketer before he could be tracked down.The Magistrate had then remanded Akubathini to police custody till November 16, 2021..On November 16, the accused was remanded to judicial custody which is when he moved for bail through advocate Abhijeet Desai. .Akubathini stated in his bail application that the offences alleged against him were not punishable with death or even life imprisonment and hence, bail ought to be granted. He submitted that the tweet should not be seen in isolation but as a whole. On a bare perusal of the tweet, it is clear that the alleged account was replying to a thread of tweet by two accounts. Therefore, it is matter of investigation whether or not the tweet was posted by Akubathini. .He stated that he had been arrested on a suspicion that the said tweet had been posted by him.The contention was that there was a possibility of misuse of the IP address of the phone which is recovered from Akubathini. Such a misuse falls under 'identity theft' and is required to be considered, the application stated. "Merely tracing of IP address cannot attribute the said crime to the present Applicant," the plea underscored. .It was further contended that Akubathini was only 23-years-old and his mobile phone has been recovered from him and no further recovery is required to be effected. He also stated that no mens rea had been established and a thorough investigation is required to establish the offences.It was also pointed out that Akubathini suffers from vision deficiency. He also undertook to not abscond or evade trial..On Saturday, the Magistrate at Bandra granted bail to Akubathini on a bail bond of ₹50,000 with one or two sureties, out of which one has to be a local surety. The Court also directed the accused to attend the concerned police station twice a week for one month and submit his residential details along with that of sureties. .[Read order]