New Delhi
\nIndian government says it is investigating a website that purported to offer Muslim women for sale, the second time in less than a year that a fake online auction of this kind has sparked outrage in the country.
\nThe website was created on GitHub, an American coding platform which developers use to build and host software.
\nMedia reports claimed that the site posted photos of 100 Muslim women.
\nThe page has been removed, and there\u2019s no indication that it had any practical use beyond using a fake auction to harass and troll Muslim women.
\nGitHub, which is owned by Microsoft (MSFT), said it had taken down an account.
\n\u201cGitHub has longstanding policies against content and conduct involving harassment, discrimination, and inciting violence,\u201d a spokesperson said. \u201cWe suspended a user account following the investigation of reports of such activity, all of which violate our policies.\u201d
\nAccording to Zubair, a local who is helping police with the investigation \u2014 the page included photos of Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and prominent Indian actress Shabana Azmi. Several journalists and activists in the country also posted screenshots of the site after finding their photos listed next to the words, \u201cYour Bulli Bai of the Day is.\u201d
\nThe page caused outrage on Twitter over the weekend. Politicians from opposition parties urged the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to take action against the online harassment and targeting of Muslim women.
\n\u201cTo \u2018sell\u2019 someone online is a cybercrime and I call on the police to take immediate action,\u201d tweeted Congress leader Shashi Tharoor. \u201cThe perpetrators deserve exemplary & condign punishment.\u201d
\nOn Sunday, India\u2019s technology minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted that the government \u201cis working with police organizations in Delhi and Mumbai on this matter.\u201d
\n\u201cThe entire website seems to have been designed with the intent of embarrassing and insulting Muslim women,\u201d wrote journalist Ismat Ara in a complaint filed with Delhi Police cybersecurity authorities. Ara, who found her photo on the site, tweeted a copy of her police complaint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
New Delhi Indian government says it is investigating a website that purported to offer Muslim women for sale, the second time in less than a year that a fake online auction of this kind has sparked outrage in the country. The website was created on GitHub, an American coding platform which developers use to build […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-236661","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n