'Inhuman, Illegal': Delhi Police File Chargesheet Against Accused in Muslim Women's Auction App Case

In January, photos of over 100 Indian Muslim women were uploaded for an "online auction" on the "Bulli Bai" app hosted on the GitHub platform. In July 2021, a similar incident took place on "Sulli Deals".

A special cell of the Delhi Police has filed two separate charge sheets in Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai App cases.

In its 2,000-page chargesheets related to Bulli Bai, the police have claimed that the accused "targeted girls from various communities", "defamed" Muslim women, and "intended to create disharmony".

Twenty-year-old Niraj Bishoi, the prime accused in the case, was arrested in January in the Bulli Bai app case; the charge sheet reads: "The app created by him is not only illegal but also inhuman as it targeted girls from various communities."

In the Sulli deals app, police have filed 700-page chargesheets, the main accused Aumkareshwar Thakur was also arrested in January, the police said: "he (the accused) intended to create disharmony between communities and to defame women of the Muslim community".

A total of six arrests have been made in both the cases.

The accused had allegedly sourced the photographs and published them on the app without the individuals' permission in an apparent attempt to target and harass Muslim women.

"Bulli Bai," a clone of a similar app called "Sulli Deals", sparked an uproar in July 2021 after photos of dozens of Muslim women were uploaded for auction as the "deal of the day".

"Sulli" and "Bulli" are derogatory words used by some Hindus to describe Muslim women.

The case is being investigated by both Mumbai Police's cybersecurity team and Delhi Police' s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSCO) unit.