Last Updated on 04/01/2022 by Ulka
On Sunday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked people to speak out against women’s sexism and communal intolerance, saying it was past time to speak out against the threat.
His message came as netizens and women’s rights organisations expressed concern over the fraudulent ‘Bulli Bai’ app, which had posted Muslim women for “auction” on social media.
According to the news agency PTI, photographs of at least 100 powerful Muslim women were published for “sale” on the ‘Bulli Bai’ app.
Outrage has erupted in response to the posts criticising the app.
“The abuse of women and racial intolerance will stop only when we stand against it in one voice,” Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter. Because the year has changed, so should the circumstance. “Now is the moment to speak up.”
On Saturday, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi reported the ‘Bulli Bai’ app to Mumbai police and Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, requesting that the creators be prosecuted.
IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw responded to Priyanka Chaturvedi’s tweet by saying that the hosting platform GitHub has acknowledged barring the user and that CERT and police authorities are organising additional action.
In another tweet, he said, “Government of India is engaging with police organisations in Delhi and Mumbai on this problem.”
The primary agency for cyber security concerns in India is the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT).
The Mumbai Cyber Police have filed a formal complaint.
According to PTI, Mumbai Cyber police have filed an FIR against the developers of the ‘Bulli Bai’ app as well as Twitter accounts that advertised the software.
According to the official, the case was filed on Saturday under sections 354-D (stalking of women), 500 (defamation punishment), and other provisions of the Information Technology Act.
“The FIR was filed by the West area of the Cyber Police against Twitter account holders and the ‘Bulli Bai’ software developers on GitHub,” the spokesman said.
According to PTI, the ‘Bulli Bai’ app has photographs of Muslim women who have a large following on Twitter. These female social media users, including journalists, were singled out for their prominent presence on the app, as evidenced by their images uploaded.
This is the second similar incident in less than a year, with the programme appearing to be a clone of ‘Sulli Deals,’ which caused a stir last year.
Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women has written to the Delhi Police Department, urging them to take action in the case as soon as possible.