Bulli Bai case: 21-year-old Bangalore student arrested by Mumbai police
Police said the student was detained after his IP address was found while using his Twitter ID to share offensive content from the “Bulli Bai” app.
A 21-year-old engineering student was arrested in Bengaluru during a Mumai police squad raid in connection with the Bulli Bai controversy. While the Mumai police have not released details the student was rought to Mumai on Monday January 3. Controversy surrounds the Bulli Bai app on the Githu hosting platform on which photos of Muslim women including journalists activists students and others have een posted and sold auction without their consent.
Mumai Police Department has registered a FIR against the developers of the “Bulli Bai” app and the Twitter handlers who promoted the app. Hundreds of Muslim women have een listed as “auctions” on the app with unauthorized and fake photos. This happened for the second time in less than a year. The app appears to e a clone of “Sulli Deals” which sparked a similar row last year. The arrested student was one of the followers of the “Bulli Bai” Twitter account which led police to him officials said.
“The 21-year-old is a second-year civil engineering student. He used his Twitter account to share offensive content from the Bulli Bai app. We have him in custody” a senior IPS official told reporters. The official added that the student was located through the IP address of the Twitter account used to upload the photos. The student has not een arrested yet he said. When asked if the student was involved in the development of the app or if he was part of a larger gang the officer replied: “We will ask him aout all of this. .
A case has een registered y Mumai Police against app developers on 1 January under sections 35
D (harassment of women) 500 (punishment for defamation) of the Penal Code India (IPC) and other provisions of the Law on Information Technology. an official told PTI. “Western Region Cyer Police has registered an FIR against Twitter control holders and the developers of the GitHu-hosted Bulli Bai app” the official said.
The app has caused widespread outrage from social media users as well as political circles. The Delhi Police have requested details from the GitHu platform aout the developer of the moile app “Bulli Bai” and asked Twitter to lock and remove the relevant “offensive content” on their platform. Descriing the matter as “serious” the Delhi Minority Commission sent a notice to the citys police chief Rakesh Asthana requesting a report on the measures taken on January 10. She said the rights of Muslim women must e protected y catching the perpetrators.
Delhi Commission of Women (DCW) also asked law enforcement officials to appear efore it later this week. Team leader Shiv Sena and Rajya Saha memer Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote to Mumai police after the case was filed. A case in this regard has also een filed y the Delhi and Hyderaad police.
