In yet another incident targeting Muslim women, photos of hundreds of them were uploaded by an unidentified group on an app using GitHub – by the name of 'Bulli Bai' – on Saturday, 1 January.
After one of the women, a Delhi-based journalist, whose photo was misused, filed a complaint with the Delhi Police, the latter's Cyber Police (South East Delhi) on Sunday registered an FIR under Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion), and 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration).
Details of the matter have also been shared with the Maharashtra cyber team, the state's nodal agency for cyber security and cybercrime investigations, that has filed charges under Sections 153A, 153B, 295A, 354D, 509, 500 of the IPC and Section 67 of the IT Act.
"Dehli Police has sought information from Twitter about the account that first tweeted about 'Bulli Bai' app and asked it to remove offensive content related to the controversy. We also sought information from GitHub platform about 'Bulli Bai' app developer," police sources tol news agency ANI.
This comes nearly six months after the 'Sulli Deals' controversy – where a similar ploy was applied, asserting selective misogyny. Notably, no concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators in the case, despite two FIRs – one in Delhi and another in Uttar Pradesh.
While 'Sulli' or 'Sulla' is a derogatory term used for Muslims, 'Bulli' is most likely a spin on the term.