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New Delhi (CNN Business) -
The Indian government says it is investigating a website allegedly offering Muslim women for sale, the second time in less than a year that such a fake online auction sparked outrage in the country.
The website was built on GitHub, an American coding platform that developers use to create and host software.
It was called "Bulli Bai," a phrase that combines slang for the word "penis" in South India with a common North Indian word that means "maid," according to Mohammed Zubair, co-founder of the website. Indian fact-checking Alt News.
Zubair told CNN Business that the page had posted photos of 100 Muslim women and had taken screenshots of all of them before they were deleted.
The page has since been removed, and there is no indication that it had any practical use beyond using a fake auction to harass and troll Muslim women.
GitHub, which is owned by Microsoft, said it had deleted an account.
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"GitHub has long-standing policies against content and conduct that involves harassment, discrimination and incitement to violence," said a spokesperson.
"We have suspended a user account following investigation of reports of this type of activity, all of which violate our policies."
According to Zubair (who is assisting the police in the investigation) the page included photos of Pakistani Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai and prominent Indian actress Shabana Azmi.
Several journalists and activists in the country also published screenshots of the page after finding their photos next to the words "Tu Bulli Bai of the day is."
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The page caused outrage on Twitter over the weekend.
Politicians from opposition parties urged the ruling party, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), to take action against the online harassment and persecution of Muslim women.
"'Selling' to someone online is a cybercrime and I call on the police to take immediate action," congressional leader Shashi Tharoor tweeted.
"The authors deserve an exemplary and worthy punishment."
On Sunday, Indian Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw tweeted that the government "is working with the Delhi and Mumbai police organizations on this matter."
"The entire website appears to have been designed with the intention of shaming and insulting Muslim women," wrote journalist Ismat Ara in a complaint filed with the cybersecurity authorities of the Delhi Police.
Ara, who found her photo on the site, tweeted a copy of her police report.
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The second case in a few months in India
It is not the first time that Muslim women in India have faced this type of harassment on the Internet.
Last July, photos of more than 80 Muslim women, including journalists, writers and influencers, were posted on a bogus app called Sulli Deals, a derogatory term for Muslim women often used by right-wing Hindu men.
Users were offered the ability to "buy" the women as merchandise at an auction on the site, which was also hosted on GitHub.
At the time, Muslim women told CNN that the online abuse they face is indicative of the mood towards Muslims in India since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist BJP came to power in 2014.
In recent years, reports of hate crimes against Muslims have risen, and several BJP-ruled states have passed laws that critics say contributed to increased religious polarization.
This weekend, a Twitter user, Hiba Bég, said that her photos were used in both cases.
"I have censored myself, I hardly speak here anymore, but even so, they are selling me online, they are making 'deals' with me," she tweeted.
"How many online deals will it take for us to see action?"
- Esha Mitra, Rhea Mogul and Swati Gupta contributed to this report.
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