A 25-year-old man who was arrested in 2022 in connection with the online “auction” of Muslim women has been discharged by a Mumbai court, as the court found no evidence in his participation in creating the app or sharing the photographs of the women.
The case comes from the app “Bulli Bai,” which displayed photographs of at least 100 Muslim women with derogatory comments. Photos were displayed for an alleged online auction in January 2022. Earlier than this, in July 2021, as many as 80 photographs of Muslim women were put up for sale on an app named “Sulli Deals.”
25-year-old Vihsal Jhan was one of the persons arrested for their alleged involvement in creating the Bulli Bai app, and a complaint was filed under offenses under Sections 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion, etc.), 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration), 295A (insulting religious beliefs), 354D (stalking), 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 500 (criminal defamation), and Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 67 of the Information Technology Act.
On Tuesday, a magistrate court in Mumbai discharged Jha’s arrest in connection with the online “auction” of Muslim women. The judge said that the sole allegation against him was that he had followed the alleged Bulli Bai app, with no evidence of any further involvement, the Live Law highlighted.
“The only role, therefore, remaining, attributing the present applicant is that he followed the Bullibai app. It is informed to the court that, very soon after launching the said app, the said app was removed. Now, there is no record to show the applicant shared the Bullibai app on his Twitter handle. So, admittedly, the role of the present applicant is that he followed the Bullibai App, and he was in contact with the co-accused,” the judge said as reported by the Live Law.
“On having gone through the connection between the present applicant and the co-accused, there is no sharing anything in respect of the present crime. Their contact shows that they are familiar with each other, but there is nothing to see involvement of present applicants directly in creating the Bullibai App. Maybe the applicant has followed the Bullibai app due to his familiarity with the co-accused and contact with them, but, in the entire charge sheet, there is no further role of the present applicant, which would show that he either created said app or helped the co-accused in creating it,” the judge said as quoted by the Live Law
