Delhi Police registers FIR in 'Sulli Deals' case, serves notices to GitHub seeking details

A day after Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) took suo-motu cognizance of the 'Sulli Deals' matter, the Delhi Police Special Cell said that it has registered an FIR against the now-defunct website. The FIR has been registered in view of a complaint received on the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal against Sulli Deals Mobile Application. The Delhi Police Cyber Cell has said that notices have been sent to GitHub - the platform on which the 'Sulli Deals' website was hosted - to share relevant details. 

The FIR, which has been registered on July 7, has invoked Section 354-A of the IPC. Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW)  has also taken cognisance of the matter. Chairperson Rekha Sharma has written to the Delhi Police Commissioner seeking his intervention to investigate the matter. The NCW has sought a detailed action report within 10 days. 

What is the 'Sulli Deals' case? 

The matter came to light after a Twitter user shared screenshots from GitHub, which hosted 'Sulli Deals' - a website that shared pictures of Muslim women, labelling them as the 'Deal of the Day'. The website has now reportedly been taken down. 

As per reports, pictures of nearly 90 women belonging to the Muslim community including prominent journalists, activists, and artists had been shared, putting them up 'for the auction'. Social media reports suggest that while a majority of the women profiled were Indian, some of them also included Pakistani nationals. The pictures of women shared were allegedly sourced from their social media handles. It is to be noted that 'Sulli' is a derogatory term for Muslim women. While there has been an active social media campaign against the website hosted by GitHub, the perpetrators still remain unknown.

DCW chief seeks details by July 14

In her letter to the Delhi Police, DCW chief Swati Maliwal wrote, "It has been reported that the photos of hundreds of Muslim women and girls were uploaded by an unidentified group on an app using GitHub - by the name of 'Sulli Deals' - on Sunday, July 4, wherein these girls were presented as the 'deal of the day' for others, and derogatory words were used against them."