Photos of hundreds of Indian Muslim women uploaded on app for alleged auction Indian govt asks cyber security and police in Delhi, Mumbai to investigate complaints

International Desk :    |    ০৯:১৭ পিএম, ২০২২-০১-০৩

The Indian government has asked cyber security and police in Delhi and Mumbai to investigate complaints that a website had hosted doctored and "lewd" pictures and objectionable comments "aimed at insulting Muslim women".

Photos of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded on an app called "Bulli Bai" for alleged auction, after which many took to social media to complain to the police. The episode has triggered an outrage across the country, our New Delhi correspondent reports.
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The Indian Computer Emergency Response System (Cert-In), the nodal agency for monitoring cyber security and related threats, has been asked to form "a high-level committee" to probe the incident and coordinate with the cyber cells of state police forces, senior government officials said.

Indian Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw had tweeted late on Saturday night that GitHub, the coding platform on which the app was hosted, had blocked the user and Cert-In and police were "co-coordinating further action".

Vaishnaw had said in another tweet on Sunday that the government was "working with Delhi and Mumbai police on the issue.

Shiv Sena lawmaker Priyanka Chaturvedi and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi supported the women on Twitter and asked Vaishnaw to take cognisance of the matter.

"Disgusting. Inaction by authorities has made these criminals brazen. @AshwiniVaishnaw @NCWIndia @DelhiPolice please investigate and take strict action," Owaisi tweeted.

"I have repeatedly asked Hon. IT Minister @AshwiniVaishnaw ji to take stern action against such rampant misogyny and communal targeting of women through such platforms. A shame that it continues to be ignored," Chaturvedi tweeted.

Chaturvedi said she had raised the matter with Mumbai Police, and demanded that the culprits should be arrested at the earliest.

Mumbai cyber police have initiated a probe in connection with the objectionable content and Delhi Police too said concerned officials have been asked to take action.