Photos of Muslim women uploaded on app; Mumbai police begin probe

Photos of hundreds of Muslim women have been uploaded on an app using hosting platform GitHub, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said on Saturday.

Chaturvedi said she has raised the matter with Mumbai Police, and demanded that the culprits should be arrested at the earliest. Have spoken to @CPMumbaiPolice and DCP Crime Rashmi Karandikar ji. They will investigate this. Have also spoken to @DGPMaharashtra for intervention. Hoping those behind such misogynistic and sexist sites are apprehended, she tweeted.

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

Reacting to the development, Mumbai Police said they have taken cognisance of the matter and that concerned officials have been asked to take action. Mumbai cyber police have initiated probe in connection with the objectionable content, an official said.

The app 'Bulli Bai' works just the same way as Sulli Deals' did. Once you open it, you randomly find a Muslim woman's face being displayed as Bulli Bai, a social media user said. Muslim women with a strong presence on Twitter have been singled out and their photos are being displayed as Bulli Bai. A journalist, who is one of the women named in the app, said that Muslim women have had to start the year with a "sense of fear and disgust."

Two FIRs were filed by the Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police in the 'Sulli Deals' controversy last year, after photos of Muslim women were misused, but no concrete action has been taken against the perpetrators.