Earlier this week, a woman journalist shared an image of herself being advertised as the ‘deal of the day’ on the Bulli Bai app. As a Muslim woman, she said it was “very sad” to be faced with such fear and disgust to start the new year.
“To “sell” someone online is a cybercrime & I call on the police to take immediate action. The perpetrators deserve exemplary & condign punishment,” Shashi Tharoor tweeted.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, a Shiv Sena MP, has repeatedly appealed to Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Information Technology, through a tweet to take action against “rampant misogyny and communal targeting of women through #sullideals like platforms.”
She added, “It is a shame that it is being ignored.”
The CERT and Police authorities are coordinating further action after GitHub confirmed blocking the user on Saturday morning. In response to the minister, Chaturvedi said “besides blocking the platform, punishing those who create such sites is crucial.”
After filing a complaint with Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell, the journalist demanded immediate registration of an FIR and subsequent action against those behind the social media auction of Muslim women.
“It is indeed disappointing to see hate mongers continue to attack Muslim women, without fear of retaliation in any way. Based on tweets posted on Delhi Police’s handle, I believe the Delhi Police have ‘taken cognisance’ of this crime,” the complaint stated.
On the complaint of the woman journalist, the Delhi Police have registered an FIR under section 509 of the Indian Penal Code. An FIR has been filed with the Cyber Police station of the South East district, according to news agency ANI.
Social media erupted in outrage after photos of Muslim women were uploaded to the Bulli Bai app on a repository hosting service. An app named ‘Bulli Bai’ was found to be auctioning pictures of Muslim women months after unseen individuals created a similar app called ‘Sulli deals’, where photographs from their social media accounts were uploaded and auctioned off. After social media outrage, the app was taken down.
