(Photo : Photo by Tauseef MUSTAFA / AFP) (Photo by TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP via Getty Images)
A woman wearing a facemask as a preventive measure against the Covid-19 coronavirus takes pictures with her mobile phone during a function organised by the Jammu and Kashmir Tourism Department on the eve of Christmas in Srinagar on December 24, 2020.
Widespread outrage ensued after more than 100 Muslim women from India were put up for sale in an online "auction" where their pictures were made public on an open software app on GitHub, prompting Indian police to make several arrests.
In the incident, which is the second such online auction in India over the last six months, the female victims involved in the fake auction include female activists, journalists, and politicians. Right-wing trolls have continued to target the minority Muslim community in the region; the majority of which support the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party that is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Online Auction of Women
The Muslim women who have been critical of the policies enforced by the BJP-led federal government have filed complaints against the people who managed the online auction app. Police authorities said that they have so far arrested four people between the ages of 18 and 21.
Officials have identified 21-year-old engineering student Bishnoi as one of the suspects and is believed to be the alleged creator of the app. Activists have said that the app, known as the Bulli Bai app on GitHub, was designed to bully and humiliate Muslim women who have spoken out against the government, Nikkei Asia reported.
The name of the app is a derogatory Hindi phrase for Muslim women; one of its victims is a 27-year-old journalist identified as Quratulain Rehbar. She said that it took her at least two to three hours to process the information that she saw on the app.
While authorities quickly shut down the fake online auction app and arrested several people in connection to the incident, some of the victims have said that the damage had already been done. Rehbar, who hailed from Kashmir, a Muslim-majority region bordering India and Pakistan, said the app's goal was to "sexually harass, disgrace, humiliate, and hate on women for speaking out against the government."
Bullying and Harassment
A similar app was released in July 2021 when Sulli Deals created profiles of nearly 100 women using images that were found online and described the female victims as "deals of the day." The word "Sulli" is also a derogatory Hindi slang term that many right-wing Hindu nationalists use for Muslim women, the New York Post reported.
Another victim of the recent fake auction, Hiba Beg, a graduate student in the United States, was simply visiting the grave of her grandmother in New Delhi over the weekend when she learned that she was put up for sale on the app. The incident is her second time being involved in such an attack in less than a year.
Her screen quickly filled with dozens of calls and messages from friends, all sharing the same screenshot of the profile that was created on the app mimicking her. Beg, who was a former journalist with an active online presence, found her images being used on the app on Saturday before it was taken down by authorities.
The online space within India is rife with misogyny and harassment of women, but the two recent incidents have amplified concern about the potentially organized nature of the crime. It also showed how they tried to silence women who were speaking out, the New York Times reported.
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