The Indian government said it was investigating a website that allegedly offered Muslim women for sale. This is the second time in less than a year that such a fake online auction has generated outrage in the country.
The site was created on GitHub, an American coding platform that developers use to build and host software.
He was called “Bulli Bai,” a phrase that combines vulgar South Indian slang for the word “penis” with a common northern word meaning “housemaid,” according to Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of the Indian site fact check Alt News.
Zubair says to CNN Business that the site posted pictures of 100 Muslim women, and that it took screenshots of all of them before they were deleted.
The page has since been removed, and there is no indication that it had any practical use other than using a fake auction to harass and “troll” Muslim women.
GitHub, which belongs to Microsoft, said it took down an account following the reports.
“GitHub has longstanding policies against content and conduct involving harassment, discrimination and incitement to violence,” said a spokesperson. “We have suspended a user account following investigation of allegations of such activity, all of which violate our policies,” he concluded.
According to Zubair – who is helping police with the investigation – the page included photos of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and prominent Indian actress Shabana Azmi.
Several journalists and activists across the country also posted screenshots of the site after finding their photos listed next to the words “Your ‘Bulli Bai’ of the Day is.”
The page caused outrage on Twitter over the weekend. Opposition party politicians have called on the ruling Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party to take action on online harassment against Muslim women.
“’Selling’ someone online is a cyber crime and I urge the police to take immediate action,” tweeted Congressional leader Shashi Tharoor. “Aggressors deserve exemplary and decent punishment”, he added.
On Sunday (2), India’s technology minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw, tweeted that the government “is working with police organizations in Delhi and Mumbai on this issue.”
“The entire site appears to have been designed with the intention of embarrassing and insulting Muslim women,” journalist Ismat Ara wrote in a complaint filed with Delhi police cybersecurity authorities.
Ara, who found his photo on the website, tweeted a copy of his police report.
UPDATE: A complaint has been filed by me with the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police for immediate registration of FIR and consequent action against people behind the auctioning of Muslim women on social media. #sullideals #BulliDeals @DelhiPolice pic.twitter.com/oX3ROLEgv1
— Ismat Ara (@IsmatAraa) January 1, 2022
This is not the first time Muslim women in India have faced this kind of harassment online. Last July, photos of more than 80 women – including journalists, writers and influencers – were posted on a mock app called Sulli Deals, a derogatory term for Muslim women commonly used by right-wing Hindu men.
Users were given a chance to “buy” women as merchandise at an auction on the site, which was also hosted on GitHub.
At the time, Muslim women told the CNN that the online abuse they are facing is indicative of the sentiment towards members of this religion in India since the Hindu-nationalist BJP party, of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a member, came to power in 2014.
In recent years, reports of hate crimes against Muslims have increased, and several states governed by the BJP have passed legislation that critics say has contributed to the growing religious polarization.
This weekend, a Twitter user named Hiba Bég said her photos were used in both cases.
“I reproached myself, I hardly speak here anymore, but still, I’m being sold online, I’m being made ‘business,’” she tweeted. “How many online offers will it take for us to see action?”
Esha Mitra, Rhea Mogul and Swati Gupta contributed to this report
This content was originally created in English.
original version
Reference: CNN Brasil
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