Delhi police seek info on ‘Bulli Bai’

New Delhi, Jan. 3: Amid outrage over Muslim women being targeted through a dodgy app, the Delhi Police sought details from the GitHub platform about the developer of the ‘Bulli Bai’ mobile application and asked Twitter to block and remove related “offensive contents” on its platform.

The police have also sought from Twitter information about the account handler who first tweeted about the app.

Leaders from across the political spectrum condemned the cyber harassment of women belonging to the minority community and called for strict action against the guilty. Many blamed it on rightwing elements.

Terming the matter “serious”, Delhi Minorities Commission issued a notice to city police chief Rakesh Asthana seeking an action-taken report on January 10. It said the interests of Muslim women need to be safeguarded by nabbing the culprits.

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) has also asked police officials to appear before it later this week.

Hundreds of Muslim women were listed for “auction” on the app with photographs sourced without permission and doctored. It has happened for the second time in less than a year. The app appeared to be a clone of Sulli Deals which triggered a similar row last year.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge condemned the harassment of Muslim women and alleged that it was the result of the repeated “dehumanisation of minorities by the BJP”.

“Strongly condemn this disgusting harassment of Muslim women. This is the result of repeated dehumanisation of minorities by the BJP leadership,” Kharge said on Twitter.

“Why were previous instances of similar harassment ignored? I hope this time, the strongest action against the guilty will be taken,” he added.

BJP leader and Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi accursed those behind the app and said any “cyber criminal communal conspiracy” against the country’s composite culture will not succeed.

Interacting with reporters, Naqvi, who is the Union minister for minority affairs, noted the government has been acting in the matter and said such targeting of women is unacceptable.

Stern action is being taken against such criminals and their “communal conspiracy” will be exposed soon, he said.

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said on Sunday that the government is working with police in Delhi and Mumbai, where cases have been registered in the matter.

He also said that GitHub has blocked the user who had uploaded the app and that the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT), the country’s nodal agency on cyber security, and police are coordinating further action in the matter. —