Six months after derogatory 'Sulli Deals' site surfaced, a new app targeting Muslim women by the name of Bulli Bai has emerged.
'Bulli Bai' popped up on January 1, with a number of pictures of women including journalists, social workers, students and famous personalities, accompanied by derogatory content.
Photos of hundreds of Muslim women have been uploaded on an app using hosting platform GitHub, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said on Saturday.
Chaturvedi said she has raised the matter with Mumbai Police, and demanded that the culprits should be arrested at the earliest.
What was the Sulli deals controversy?
On July 4, 2021, several reports emerged about an app named 'Sulli Deals' that was created by an unidentified group on a code hosting platform -GitHub.
The app displayed a Muslim woman's face and a tagline below it that read "Sulli deal of the day". 'Sulli' is a derogatory term used against women.
The app creators would use the photos illegally obtained from the women's social media handles and convince people to take part in the "auction".
Two FIRs were filed by the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police in the controversy last year, but no concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators.
What is Bulli Bai?
"The app 'Bulli Bai' works just the same way as 'Sulli Deals' did. Once you open it, you randomly find a Muslim woman's face being displayed as Bulli Bai," a social media user said.
Muslim women with a strong presence on Twitter have been singled out and their photos are being displayed as Bulli Bai.
Hosting platform Github provided space to 'Sulli Deals' and 'Bulli Bai' is also created on Github.
A journalist, who is one of the women named in the app, said that Muslim women have had to start the year with a "sense of fear and disgust." Two FIRs were filed by the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police in the 'Sulli Deals' controversy last year, after photos of Muslim women were misused, but no concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators.
"Bulli Bai" was also being promoted by a Twitter handle with the name @bullibai, with its display picture of a "Khalistani supporter", and saying women can be booked from the app.
What action has been taken so far?
Delhi Police on Sunday registered a case based on a complaint filed by a woman journalist alleging that she was being targetted by an unidentified group of people on a mobile application named 'Bulli Bai' created on GitHub platform.
An FIR has been registered under section 509 in Cyber Police station of South East district, Delhi Police said.
After outrage over the app was witnessed on social media, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in a tweet on Saturday night claimed that the GitHub user responsible for the 'Bulli Bai' app had been blocked and "further action" was being coordinated.
"GitHub confirmed blocking the user this morning itself. CERT and Police authorities are coordinating further action," Vaishnaw tweeted.
(With agency inputs)
