‘Online auction’ of women: Bail order of three accused says their ‘immature age’ was misused
Vishal Jha, Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat had a lesser role to play as compared to the two other accused persons who were older, the court said.
The “immature age and understanding” of three persons accused in the case related to “online auction” of Muslim women, were misused by others accused in the matter, a Mumbai court has said, Live Law reported on Tuesday.
Magistrate KC Rajput made the observation while granting bail to three accused persons, Vishal Kumar Jha, Shweta Singh and Mayank Rawat. They were granted bail on April 12 and the order was made available on Tuesday.
The judge said that they played a lesser role as compared to the other two accused persons, who were older and had a “deeper understanding” of the matter.
The court did not grant bail to the two other accused persons – Omkareshwar Thakur and Neeraj Singh. Another accused Neeraj Bishnoi has been asked to file a fresh plea as his application had not been signed by him or his advocate, according to Live Law.
The case pertains to online platform, “Bulli Bai”, which was used to put over 100 Muslim women on “online auction”. In January, images of more than 100 Muslim women were displayed on the app for auction as “Bulli Bai” of the day. This was the second such attempt in less than a year. In July, photographs of nearly 80 Muslim women were “put up for sale” on the “Suli Deals” application.
Jha, Singh and Rawat were arrested for allegedly being involved in creation of the app.
While granting them bail, the court also asked their parents or caregivers to arrange for their counselling on social behaviour, including appropriate behaviour on social media. The judge noted that the three accused persons had examinations, and that their future prospects would be hampered if they were to remain in jail.
One of the accused persons, Shweta Singh, is an orphan and has no one to take care of her, the judge observed.
Meanwhile, the court said that the allegations against Thakur, Neeraj Singh and Bishnoi were serious, and observed that they had deliberately created the app. “It can be said that they uploaded and disseminated the information pertaining to women of particular religion with intention to create hatred,” it said, according to Live Law.
