‘Communal hatred will stop only when’: Rahul Gandhi on ‘auction’ of Muslim women

After a Delhi-based journalist filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against a questionable website for uploading her doctored photos, several politicians condemned it. The Delhi Police registered an FIR on Saturday night.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday raised his voice against the application ‘auctioning’ Muslim women which has already triggered action and outrage, saying the humiliation and communal hatred against women will stop only when all stand in one voice against it. “The year has changed, the situation has also changed — now we have to speak,” Rahul Gandhi tweeted. After a Delhi-based journalist filed a complaint with the Delhi Police against a questionable website for uploading her doctored photos, several politicians condemned it. The Delhi Police registered an FIR on Saturday night.

IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the app has been blocked and further action was being coordinated. “GitHub confirmed blocking the user this morning itself. CERT and Police authorities are coordinating further action,” the minister said.

“I was shocked to find out this morning that a website/portal called bullibai.github.io (since deleted) had a doctored picture of me in an improper, unacceptable and clearly lewd context. This needs immediate action, as the same is clearly designed to harass me and other similarly situated independent women and journalists,” the woman journalist said in her complaint.

A senior Delhi police officer said the case has been registered under sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 354 A (sexual harassment and punishment for harassment) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the journalist alleging that she is being targeted by an unidentified group of people on “Bulli Bai” portal.

The police said no arrests have been made in the case so far and a probe is underway.

This is not the first time that Muslim women have been targeted by online platforms. Around six months ago, Sulli Deals — Bulli Bai is believed to be a clone of that — used to collect photos of Muslim women from their social media accounts and ‘auction’ them. Both the apps were created by unidentified groups on GitHub. In the Sulli Deals controversy, two FIRs were filed by the Delhi and the Uttar Pradesh Police.

Courtesy : HT

Note: This news piece was originally published in hindustantimes.com and used purely for non-profit/non-commercial purposes exclusively for Human Rights objectives.