The Delhi Police on Tuesday filed a first information report against several people who allegedly made derogatory remarks against Muslim women on the audio chat app Clubhouse, reported The Indian Express.
Cyber Cell Deputy Commission of Police said the FIR has been registered under sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion) and 354 A (sexual harassment) of the Indian Penal Code.
The FIR came hours after the Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice asking the police to take actions against the social media users who participated in the online conversation on the topic, “Muslim gals are more beautiful than Hindu gals”.
The panel said that the “participants can be clearly heard making obscene, vulgar and defamatory remarks over women and girls especially from the Muslim community”.
Clubhouse is a social audio app, where members can participate and listen in on chat sessions and discussions based on their topics of interest.
Following the controversy, a Clubhouse spokesperson told the Hindustan Times that the platform is not a place for hate or abuse.
“We invest significantly in keeping our community safe and take swift action at any violation of our policies,” the spokesperson said. “In this instance, the room was reported and those involved in organising were quickly actioned.”
This is the third instance in the last eight months where derogatory remarks have been reported to be posted online against Muslim women.
Earlier, two apps were used to display photos of Muslim women for “online auction”.
The “Sulli Deals” app emerged in July, and “Bulli Bai” on January 1. The apps have been taken down from hosting platform GitHub following outrage on social media. Both “Bulli” and “Sulli” are derogatory terms used to refer to Muslim women.
On January 9, the Delhi Police arrested Aumkareshwar Thakur, who allegedly created the “Sulli Deals” app, from Indore.
In the “Bulli Bai” case, the Delhi Police have arrested Neeraj Bishnoi, allegedly the main conspirator in the case. The Mumbai Police have arrested three more persons in the case – Vishal Kumar Jha, Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat.
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