Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Mithali Raj urge citizens for 'lockdown' on increasing domestic violence cases

New Delhi, April 19: India cricketers Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Mithali Raj have joined hands with Bollywood actors to raise their voice against the increase in cases of domestic violence during the lockdown in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.

Kohli, on Sunday (April 19), took to his Instagram handle to post a video in which he could be joined by his deputy Rohit Sharma and women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj to urge the fellow countrymen to put a lockdown on domestic violence.

In the campaign, Kohli-Rohit were joined by Bollywood actors Madhuri Dixit, Farhan Akhtar, Karan Johar, Dia Mirza, Anushka Sharma and others as celebrities urging citizens of India to stand up and break their silence on domestic violence.

Kohli captioned the video, "If you have been a victim, witness or a survivor of the domestic violence, please report."

The nation is witnessing a surge in a number of coronavirus infected cases and fatalities, forcing the administration to extend the nationwide lockdown till May 3. Amid the global pandemic, the nation has recorded crime against women due to coronavirus crisis.

According to news agency PTI, the National Commission for Women has recorded as many as 587 complaints from March 23 to April 16 and 239 out of them are related to domestic violence.

As per the data shared by NCW, the commission came across with 239 complaints in the last 25 days. NCW Chairperson Rekha Sharma has previously asserted that the increase in number can be 'attributed to the lockdown' imposed by the Indian government in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.