CYBER HATE CRIMES

Muslim Women Listed for ‘Auction’ on Indian App to ‘Degrade and Humiliate’

The women aren’t hopeful for justice, as the investigation into the original “Sulli Deals” has seen no arrests in six months.

More than 100 Muslim women were listed for “auction” on an Indian app that has since been taken down. “Bulli Bai” was the second attempt in a year—following on the heels of last July’s “Sulli Deals”—by online trolls to post images of prominent or vocal Muslim women as part of mock sales meant to “degrade and humiliate.” According to journalist Mohammad Zubair, both “bulli” and “sulli” are slurs used against Muslim women in the Hindi and Punjabi languages. The app was taken down Saturday as dozens of women took to social media to share their outrage at seeing images of themselves, as well as personal details, posted to the app. The women aren’t hopeful for a strong police response, as the investigation into the original “Sulli Deals” has seen no arrests or results in six months. “Bulli Bai takes hate crimes in India to another dangerous level where Muslim are being virtually violated and mae a free-for-all for a bigoted mob,” said Rana Ayyub, a Mumbai-based columnist with The Washington Post.