Bulli Bai Case: Accused Shweta Singh, Mayank Rawat Sent to Judicial Custody

Although the #SulliDeals and #BulliBai onslaughts may have different team leaders, their motivation or inspiration stems from the shared ideology of hatred.

(Photo: The Quint)

Bulli Bai case accused Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat were sent to 14-day-judicial custody by a Mumbai court on Friday, 14 January, as the period of their police custody came to an end.

On 1 January, photos of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded by an unidentified group on an app by the name of 'Bulli Bai' using GitHub. This comes nearly six months after the 'Sulli Deals' controversy, where pictures of Muslim women were similarly misused.

The Mumbai Police alleged on Friday that Neeraj Bishnoi, accused in the Sulli deals case, had alerted the accused after which they had proceeded to delete their Twitter accounts, reported Bar and Bench. They sought further remand of the accused in order to probe the matter.

The two accused on Friday filed a bail plea in the Bandra court, which is slated to be heard on 17 January, news agency ANI reported.

While accused Shweta Singh was produced before the court on Friday, Mayank Rawat was not, as he had tested positive for COVID-19.

Previously, Vishal Kumar Jha, the first accused arrested by the Mumbai Police in 'Bulli Bai' app case, was on 10 January sent to judicial custody under medical observation, after he tested positive for COVID-19.

The police custody of Mayank Rawat and Shweta Singh had been extended till 14 January at the time.

Mumbai Police, during the court hearing on 10 January, had demanded further custody of the accused in the Bulli Bai app case on the grounds that they were using 10-12 accounts to spread the objectionable content on social media platforms.

The accused were consciously part of the crime which leaves the scope for investigation, the police had argued during the hearing.

Shweta Singh Says She Was Slapped During Questioning, Inquiry Ordered

Accused Shweta Singh on Friday said before the court that she was slapped during an interrogation by the police, while stating there were no external injuries, Bar and Bench reported.

The judge has ordered Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber) to conduct an inquiry into the allegations of ill-treatment by Singh.

(With inputs from ANI and Bar and Bench.)