As the world welcomed in the New Year 2022, Muslim women in India woke to a vile and shocking site on social media. Their pictures were uploaded to an app called the Bulli Bai, an auction online! Some of those included in the app were prominent journalists, actresses and others who complained about their doctored pictures uploaded to the GitHub hosting platform.
The incident comes on the back of the "Sulli Deals" controversy; an unidentified group created a similar app on the code hosting platform, GitHub. The word 'sulli' is a derogatory term used against Muslim women, and the app displayed a Muslim woman's face with a tagline below that read "Sulli deal of the Day."
The "Bulli Bai" app is like "Sulli Deals", which triggered a row last year. On accessing the app, you find random faces of influential Muslim women, illegally obtained from social media handles, displayed on Bulli Bai. It asks people to participate in the "auction." "Bulli Bai" was promoted by a Twitter handle with @bullibai showing a "Khalistani supporter" picture, saying women can be booked from the app.
Sania Ahmed, a journalist, activist, and victim, spoke to Radio Islam International, who explained how the app worked and her experience.