Rights bodies condemn 'auction of Muslim women'

Hyderabad: The internet trolls have taken to posting degrading, doctored images of Muslim women on the internet through a platform called 'Bulli Bai', heavily inspired by the 'Bulli Deals' app. This time the women from Hyderabad have been targeted. The Secretary of Women's Wing Jamaat-e-Islami Hind (JIH), Rahmatunnisa, has condemned the target of Muslim women under the name of 'Bullibai/Bullideals'.

Rahmatunnisa said, "We condemn those responsible for such a communal, misogynist, sexist and Islamophobic attempt to denigrate and insult the daughters of India. It is a violation of their fundamental right to dignity and privacy, and the perpetrators should be booked and awarded strict punishment." She said the online auction of the respectable daughters of India on a website/app by the name of 'Bullibai/ Bullideals' shames the nation and culture. "Our Bharatiya Sanskar is in peril. That is because, our culture honours and glorifies our mothers, sisters and daughters. Such attempts to target women from a specific religion damage our reputation in India and abroad," Rahmatunnisa added. We must treat those responsible for this crime on par with those indulging in anti-national activities. It should be recalled that a similar effort to denigrate and mentally-torture women were carried out six months ago in the name of 'Sullideals' in which photographs of more than 80 Muslim women were uploaded for their online auction, she reminded.

Hyderabad women activist Khalida Parveen is one of them who was also targeted. She said, "I was angry for the younger Muslim women until yesterday. Today, I found out that even my name is on the list."

She said, "If they are going to auction even a 65-year-old woman like me, what is their mother's age? I am not angry, I pity how shameless they can get. It is also deeply surprising that they can do something like this and then shout 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' in the same breath. But to make it clear, I am not scared of these men," she tweeted.

Parveen filed a complaint with the Hyderabad police cybercrime wing on Monday. An FIR was registered under Sections 509 and 345 D of IPC and also under relevant sections of the IT Act. However, another resident of Hyderabad by the name Ayesha Minhaz who works as a journalist was also targeted on the site/app.

Jamaat-e-Islami Hind demanded that the concerned website or app should be first brought down. Those who were behind the crime should be arrested and punished. They should be named and shamed and the victims must be provided with adequate monetary compensation for the ordeal they had to suffer.