Explained | Months after 'Sulli Deals', 'Bulli Bai' sparks outrage as women demand action

Anonymous Twitter users appeared to be auctioning off hundreds of Muslim women after their pictures were put up online

Twitter was up in arms just as the new year began after anonymous accounts were seen auctioning hundreds of Muslim women through an web page on GitHub called ‘Bulli Bai'.

"Bulli Bai", created on Github, popped up on January 1, with a number of pictures of women including journalists, social workers, students and famous personalities, accompanied by derogatory content.

While Twitterverse has been at war over toxic discourses targetting certain communities, this instance is very similar to ‘Sulli files’ that surfaced in July last year.

Here’s what we know about the 'Bulli Bai' controversy so far.

What happened?

"Bulli Bai" popped up on January 1, with a number of pictures of women including journalists, social workers, students and famous personalities, accompanied by derogatory content, using hosting platform GitHub. Many anonymous Twitter accounts were seen auctioning them online, an act which angered Twitterati, especially Muslim women. who called out the hatred and demanded immediate action.

"Bulli Bai" was also being promoted by a Twitter handle with the name @bullibai, with the display picture of a "Khalistani supporter", saying women can be 'booked' from the app. This handle was also promoting Khalistani content at the same time.

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi flagged the issue on Twitter, tagging Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and demanding for strict action.

Mumbai cyber police took cognisance of the matter and launched a probe. They are also taking legal opinion to lodge the case under relevant section of the IPC.

Vaishnaw confirmed that GitHub has blocked the creator of the app on Sunday morning and police authorities are taking further action.

In July 2021, hundreds of pictures of girls and women were uploaded by an unidentified group on an app called Sulli Deals using GitHub. ‘Sulli’ is supposedly an offensive term used against Muslim women. The Cyber Cell of the Delhi Police had filed an FIR in the case and sent a notice to GitHub, while the Delhi Commission for Women had ordered strict action in the case. To the disappointment of victims, no arrests were made in the case and no perpetrators have been identified so far.

Actions and reactions

Prompt police action did nothing to assuage the disgust of women who were seen on this app. Many took to Twitter to express their outrage at such acts of “dehumanising” Muslim women for the second time in six months.

A woman whose photo was put up online with the offensive hashtag tweeted that Muslim women’s year has unfortunately started with this “sense of fear & disgust".

The women also questioned safety of women in the country and slammed India’s “broken” and “dilapidated” justice system, as nothing had come of the FIR filed in the Sulli files case, which had seen similar auctioning of women from the minority community.

Twitterati also hit back at the anonymous creators saying that such acts do not “lessen or intimidate” them, even if these are “outrageous”.

Delhi Police came under fire as haunting memories of the 'Sulli files' came rushing back to victims, still waiting for the perpetrators to be brought back to justice.

Opposition leaders including Shashi Tharoor and Karti Chidambaram also slammed the “anti-Muslim misogyny” online.

The Delhi Police has registered an FIR against unknown persons for uploading doctored photos on the site, officials said on Sunday.

A journalist had lodged an online complaint and she shared the copy of the complaint on Twitter. The case was registered at the Cyber Police station of the southeast district on Saturday night, the police said.

A senior police officer said the case has been registered under sections 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 354 A (sexual harassment and punishment for harassment) of the Indian Penal Code on the complaint of the journalist alleging that she is being targeted by an unidentified group of people on "Bulli Bai" portal.

"I was shocked to find out this morning that a website/portal called bullibai.github.io (since deleted) had a doctored picture of me in an improper, unacceptable and clearly lewd context. This needs immediate action, as the same is clearly designed to harass me and other similarly situated independent women and journalists," the woman said in the complaint.

"I enclose snapshots of the said tweet directed at me herein as well as of other tweets. The term 'Bulli Bai' itself seems disrespectful and the content of this website/portal (bullibai.github.io) is clearly aimed at insulting Muslim women as the derogatory term 'Bulli' is used exclusively for Muslim women and the entire website seems to have been designed with the intent of embarrassing and insulting Muslim women," she added.

Check out DH's latest videos