Man accused of putting Muslim women up for online ‘auction’ discharged in India

A Mumbai court has discharged a 25-year-old man accused in the case involving the “Bulli Bai” app, which displayed photographs of more than 100 Muslim women with derogatory comments, Scroll reported.

Vishal Jha, an engineering student in Bengaluru at the time of his arrest in 2022, was accused of being involved in creating the app, which was used to falsely put Muslim women up for an alleged online “auction”.

The court found there was insufficient evidence to establish that Jha had created the app or shared the photographs of the women.

The case relates to the Bulli Bai platform, which emerged in January 2022 and targeted more than 100 Muslim women, including journalists, activists and other public figures.

Jha’s lawyer argued that the only allegation against his client in the chargesheet was that he had followed the app and shared it.

The court held that merely following the app did not constitute an offence. It also noted that although Jha had been in contact with some of the co-accused, this alone did not establish his involvement in the alleged offences.

Mumbai Police’s cyber cell had registered the case under several provisions of the Indian Penal Code, including promoting enmity between groups, deliberate acts intended to outrage religious feelings, stalking, defamation and insulting the modesty of a woman. Provisions of India’s Information Technology Act were also invoked.

The Bulli Bai case was the second major incident targeting Muslim women through an online platform in less than a year.

In July 2021, photographs of nearly 80 Muslim women had been uploaded to another platform called “Sulli Deals”, where they were similarly presented as being available for an online sale.

The cases sparked widespread outrage in India, with critics accusing the platforms of digitally targeting Muslim women through sexualised abuse and harassment.