Bulli Bai Case: 'Why Has PM Not Condemned Incident,' Asks Priyanka Chaturvedi

Speaking to The Quint, the Shiv Sena MP condemned the lack of action taken against the perpetrators of 'Bulli Bai'.

More than 60 days later, the case has reached a standstill with no progress in either arrest or investigation.

(Photo: Erum Gour/TheQuint)

Video Editor: Rajbir Singh

Days after the 'Bulli Bai' incident targeting Muslim women, Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi asks why the prime minister has remained silent over the development, and condemns the lack of action taken against the perpetrators.

"It is important for Muslim women to feel that there is a safety net around them. The highest authority of the land should stand in solidarity with them. The first step is condemnation, then comes action. The Centre should stand up against what is wrong," Chaturvedi told The Quint in an interview.

"What is wrong has to be called out as wrong unequivocally, there cannot be biases in that. There cannot be any scope of safeguarding those criminal-minded people who look at women in a sexist manner, misogynistic manner, and have some pathetic hate-filled ideas about religion."

Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi

On 1 January, photos of hundreds of Muslim women were uploaded by an unidentified group on an app using GitHub – by the name of 'Bulli Bai.' This comes nearly six months after a similar 'Sulli Deals' controversy, where pictures of Muslim women were misused.

MP Chaturvedi opines that the repeated occurrence of such incidents is because certain elements have been emboldened to act in a communal manner by the regime of the country.

"I believe that this is part of a very emboldened culture, where, when the prime minister of the country goes for election rallies, he makes it about religion. When the home minister talks about the governance model on the basis of religion... when the chief minister reduces his campaigns to this particular narrative, that is when you see a citizenry which is emboldened."

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police on Tuesday arrested a 21-year-old Bengaluru man in connection with the 'Bulli Bai' case.

The Cyber Police (South East Delhi) has also registered an FIR in connection with the case, under Sections 354A (sexual harassment), 509 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 153A (promoting enmity on grounds of religion), and 153B (imputations prejudicial to national integration).

The Quint had reached out to Delhi Police on the status of the investigation, but has received no response as of yet.