Bulli Bai App Controversy

[JackSeal]

 

"Bulli Bai" has misused photographs and targeted women from the Muslim community.

1. The Bulli Bai controversy surfaced on January 1 as several Muslim women found themselves on 'auction' on an app. The app hosted by the GitHub platform had used their photographs, many of them doctored. Police in Mumbai and Delhi are probing the matter. As per reports, Mumbai Police have detained an engineering student from Bengaluru.

2. The targets included women vocal on burning political and social issues, spanning age groups. Prominent journalists, activists and lawyers were among those listed for 'auction' in the disgusting app.

3. The egregious app appeared to be a clone of 'Sulli Deals', which had triggered a row last year by offering users a 'sulli' - an insulting term used by right-wing trolls for Muslim women. That too was hosted by GitHub.

4. Several Opposition leaders, including Congress' Rahul Gandhi and Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi, urged the government to crack down on the platform and bring those behind it to justice.

5. IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said the GitHub user behind the app had been blocked and "further action" was being coordinated. The Delhi Commission for Women has issued a notice to police officers in this connection.