The Delhi Police’s Special Cell on Thursday registered a First Information Report against unidentified people for creating an app where Muslim women were put up for online auction, ANI reported.
Images of hundreds of women were uploaded via an auctioning app called “Sulli Deals” on Sunday, The Quint reported. “Sulli” is a derogatory term used to refer to Muslim women. The app, which was uploaded on repository hosting service GitHub, has been taken down by the platform after outrage on social media.
The FIR was lodged based on a complaint received on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal against the app, the Delhi Police Cyber Cell said. Pilot Hana Mohsin Khan had on Wednesday filed a first information report in the case. The police have also sent a notice to GitHub.
The FIR was filed under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), according to India Today.
On Wednesday, the Delhi Commission for Women had issued a notice to the Delhi Police on the matter, The Hindu reported. Taking suo motu cognisance of the matter, the women’s panel sought information from the police on the steps taken to identify the accused. It also sought a copy of the FIR filed in the case and asked police to respond by July 12.
The Editors Guild of India also expressed concern about the misuse of digital and social media platforms to harass women journalists. “This vile attack is symptomatic of underlying misogyny in some sections of the society, especially against Muslim women as well as those who have been outspoken critics of the current government,” the journalists’ body said.
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