2 arrests in Bulli Bai case, furious Muslim women want justice. 4 points

On the first day of the new year, social media was abuzz with a shocker. Pictures of around 100 Muslim women were put on 'sale' on an app called Bulli Bai, created on the Microsoft owned software development website, GitHub. The application had the pictures of actress Shabana Azmi, journalist Ismat Ara, Hiba Beg, RJ Sayema, women activists, journalists, and politicians; and even the pictures of 65-year-old Fatima Nafees and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai.

In the latest develooment, 2 individuals including a woman have been arrested in the Bulli Bai case, news agency ANI reported today.

#UPDATE | 'Bulli Bai' app case: The 21-year-old man arrested by Mumbai Police Cyber Cell has been identified as Vishal Kumar. Main accused in the case is a woman detained from Uttarakhand. Both of the accused know each other: Mumbai Police https://t.co/GcjJRj0xaF

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2022

Earlier Shiv Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi had registered heavy objection on the online shaming of Muslim women. She wrote to the Information and Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, complaining about the case.

Here is a quick glance at the arrests in the case so far:

1. FIRST ARREST

#WATCH 'Bulli Bai' app case accused Vishal Kumar produced before Mumbai's Bandra Court pic.twitter.com/YhyAZjkLng

— ANI (@ANI) January 4, 2022

Vishal Kumar Jha, 21, a second year engineering student from Bengaluru was detained and brought to Mumbai for further investigation when his link with the application was established. As per reports, Vishal Kumar opened an account by the name of 'Khalsa supremacist', and tried to give a Khalistani angle to the whole controversy. The accused was produced in the Bandra court today and has been sent to police custody till January 10. Also, searches at his Bengaluru residence will take place soon.

2. SECOND ARREST

The other accused is a woman who has been detained in Uttarakhand, and is being questioned. She is poised to be the mastermind behind the case because as per sources, she was handling all three accounts related to Bulli Bai. Ironically, both the accused knew each other through their social media accounts, and that's how the link between them was established by police.

3. MUSLIM WOMEN FURIOUS

After news of a woman being detained was out, many women journalists took to Twitter to express their shock over the fact that a woman from Uttrakhand was behind all this. Shiv Sena spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said that a woman being a part of this larger network of online harassment of women is saddening.

That it had to be a woman who’s part of this larger network behind the online harassment is saddening. For a woman to harass and demean fellow women is beyond me, but yes this is what all consuming hate can do. @MumbaiPolice

— Priyanka Chaturvedi?? (@priyankac19) January 4, 2022

Journalist Ismat Ara, who was a victim of this Bulli Bai app, spoke on how she was disgusted and not shocked that it could be a woman.

Why am I just so disgusted but not shocked to know that it could be a woman?

— Ismat Ara (@IsmatAraa) January 4, 2022

Journalist Rana Ayyub shed light on the fact that there was concerned attempt to make it look like a handiwork of Khalistani terrorists.

There was a concerted attempt to make this look like the work of what the right wing ecosystem labeled 'Sikh extremists' https://t.co/GuIG4yGXy3

— Rana Ayyub (@RanaAyyub) January 4, 2022

Journalist Hiba Beg said on Twitter that the hatred Hindutvawadi women hold for Muslim women is something she has been 'trying to raise' for long.

The hatred Hindutvadi women hold for Muslim women has been an important point I’ve been trying to raise. There is a reason the “fringe has entered the family.” There is radicalisation at all fronts. This is heartbreaking. https://t.co/S0FS9ai0oB

— Hiba Bég (@HibaBeg) January 4, 2022

RJ Sayema, who was also a victim, thanked Priyanka Chaturvedi and DCP Mumbai Police Cyber Cell Rashmi Karandikar.

There are all kinds of women!So many women ministers are silentAnd Look at you and DCP Rashmi Krandikar❤️Thank you and more power to you always?? https://t.co/j3QnDETOle

— Sayema (@_sayema) January 4, 2022

4. NOT THE FIRST TIME

In all, the victims want more arrests because this is not the first time that such an online auction of Muslim women's IDs has happened. In July 2021, an app called Sulli Deals had surfaced, which also had images of Muslim women on sale. Till now, no arrest has been made in that case, though the app has been removed.