'Larger Interest of Society at Stake': Court Denies Bail to 'Bulli Bai' Accused

Refusing bail, the court said that there was evidence that 19-year-old Shweta Singh targeted women from a specific community. 

(Photo: The Quint) 

The Mumbai Sessions Court on Friday, 4 March, rejected the bail plea of Shweta Singh, the youngest accused in the Bulli Bai app case, reported Bar and Bench.

Refusing bail, Additional Sessions Court Judge SJ Gharat said that there was evidence that 19-year-old Singh targeted women from a specific community, and that the larger interest of society had to be kept in mind.

"Record shows the active involvement in the propagating and disseminating the information/data relating to woman of particular community. So also, they tried that Sikh Community should be targeted for said illegal acts. The largest interest of society is at stake. As a result, at this stage, the prayer of accused for release on bail can't be granted," the court stated.

The court also noted that Singh had created false Twitter identities with Sikh names to malign the Sikh community.

Wrongfully Accused, Says Shweta

Singh, however, said that she had been falsely accused in the case and claimed that she had given her full cooperation to the interrogating authorities.

The 19-year-old also said that she would face problems to get married due to her continued detention.

Regarding her alleged offence, she said that no wrong had been committed by her, adding that she did not make any abusive remarks. She also said that tagging a picture and tweeting were not criminal offences.

The accused claimed that she had arranged the group on Twitter as a friend, adding that her freedom of expression was being violated, Bar and Bench reported.

'Shweta was in Regular Contact with Other Accused Persons': Prosecution

The prosecution, however, told the court that Singh had been in regular contact with other accused persons in the case via Instagram. It was also argued that she would constantly post provocative content on the social media platform.

The court took note of the prosecution's claim that Singh was a part of a chat group named "Trad Mahasabha". Also, the Bulli Bai app was created by co-accused Niraj Bishnoi on GitHub after several conversations on the group.

"The investigation is still in progress. The role of the accused can’t be bifurcated at this stage from the rest of the accused. The Mumbai Police has already sought custody of Bishnoi from Delhi police who arrested him and if at this stage the accused is granted bail the possibility of tampering with evidence can’t be ruled out," the court stated.

Barely six months after the "Sulli Deals" app had triggered a furore with its blatant Islamophobia and misogyny, the "Bulli Bai" app was the second instance where publicly available photos of hundreds of Muslim women were misused and put on 'auction' – not a real auction but a despicable intention of debasing and intimidating women.

(With inputs from Bar and Bench.)