DCW notice to police over rape threats to Muslim women

New Delhi: The Delhi Commission For Women (DCW) issued a notice to city police on Monday and sought an action taken report in a matter where a man allegedly posted "derogatory messages" regarding Muslim women on his social media account. The panel has sought the report by August 5 (Thursday).

The panel said that it received a complaint in which it was alleged that some men had been posting messages on social media to incite people to commit crimes against Muslim women.

"It is alleged that... has posted names and contact details of some women on his social media account on Instagram wherein he has asked people to rape the women," the notice read.

The DCW said it is a "very serious matter and attracts urgent intervention. The Commission had referred the matter to UP police who have informed that the accused lives in Delhi."

The DCW has sought a copy of the FIR registered in the matter, details of the accused arrested in the matter and if no accused has been arrested, the reasons for the same along with steps taken by the police to arrest the accused.

It also asked the police about the steps taken by the police to remove the alleged content from the social media platform and a detailed action taken report in the matter.

These women's names and contact numbers on social media surfaced at the same time around which many more Muslim women were targetted by the makers of the "Sulli Deals" mobile application. In the "Sulli Deals" case, pictures of Muslim women and their contact numbers were uploaded. These women were then "auctioned" through the app, which claimed to "offer deals on them".

While the DCW had identified the names of five men allegedly associated with the instant case, it had referred the matter to UP Police initially. Following this, the UP Police said the named accused live in Delhi, necessitating the notice to the Delhi Police.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police's probe in the "Sulli Deals" case has hit a wall with GitHub, the application host, yet to comply with law enforcement officials.