Fatima Nafees, the 52-year-old mother of Najeeb Ahmed, the JNU student who’s been missing for more than five years, was listed on the Bulli bai deals app that has a number of pictures of Muslim women including journalists, social workers, students and famous personalities, accompanied by derogatory content.
The app was created on the Github platform and popped up on January 1.
This incident comes six months after the incident of July 2021, where Muslim women were auctioned online by right-wing trolls baring proof yet again to the disregard and degradation Muslim women are subjected to in today’s climate.
The team ‘Bulli’ is a derogatory slur that has been used to insult and disrespect Muslim women. In the same vein, it is worth noting that the term “Sulli” is an offensive slur used against Muslim women and has made the rounds time and again in communal pogroms.
An investigative journalist with The Wire, Ismat Ara, who has been subjected to the harassment, on Saturday, filed a complaint (an FIR) with the Cyber Cell of Delhi Police.
“It is very sad that as a Muslim woman you have to start your new year with this sense of fear & disgust. Of course, it goes without saying that I am not the only one being targeted in this new version of #sullideals,” Ismat Ara first tweeted on Saturday afternoon.
Ismat who has been subject to online harassment previously was shocked after she found out that a website bullibai.github.io, had displayed inappropriate, doctored photos, of her, in a lewd context, on Saturday morning.