The Delhi Union of Journalists and its Gender Council expresses it shock and anger at the targeting of Muslim women, including several journalists, through the social media. We salute the bold women who filed FIRs against the publication of their photos, auctioning their bodies to bidders on the ‘Bulli Bai’ app. We urge the police in Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad, where women have lodged complaints, to act urgently on the matter. Mumbai Police has detained a suspect from Bangalore but others need to be identified immediately. This is the second time that such a public ‘auction’ of Muslim women has taken place. Had the police identified the culprits behind the infamous ‘Sulli Deals’ that was online six months ago, this targeting and terrorizing of Muslim women would not have been repeated. We note that AltNews had investigated the online threat months ago, going to great lengths to trace and identify some of the fake handles responsible for the outrageous app.
Predictably, no action was taken by the police. We congratulate the Wire journalist Ismat Ara for her courage in filing a case with the Delhi Police. We express our solidarity with all members of the Delhi Union of Journalists who are facing these attacks. We share the anguish of all the women who experienced sexual harassment and that of their families. A young woman lawyer has penned a piece for the Quint whose title speaks, “My Mom’s Photo was Misused on Bulli Bai, No Daughter should be Writing This”. She writes, “…what Bulli Bai means to me is the willful, well-planned perpetuation of minority oppression, systemic sexism and gender-based violence against a certain community of women.” An online petition urges the Supreme Court to take suo moto cognizance and monitor the investigation and prosecution of this matter. The Delhi Union of Journalists supports this move. Nearly 100 women have been attacked. Most of them are professionals, including journalists (some are members of the DUJ) , historians, politicians and pilots. We urge more of them to come forward to report and voice their ordeal, so that such hideous experiences are not repeated. The police and the courts must act now.
