19-year-old questioned over Clubhouse group that targeted Muslim women

The discussion was recorded and shared online, prompting the Delhi Commission for Women to write to the police seeking action.

A senior police officer from the Cyber Cell told The Indian Express: “A team went to the student’s house late last night. We are questioning him. He is denying his involvement but we have technical evidence. He used a fake ID on the app and created the group where he and 4-5 others made vulgar and lewd comments against Muslim women.”

Cyber Cell officials said they have sent notices to the US-based company seeking details of the users/organisers of the group, and have also sent a notice to Google Play Store to “keep a check” on such apps.

An FIR under IPC sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on the ground of religion), 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion) and 354 A (sexual harassment) has been registered in the matter.

As reported by The Indian Express, the Delhi Police had earlier identified 4-5 suspects as the ‘main speakers’ in the group.

Acting on a separate complaint about the same group, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested three persons — Akash Suyal (19), Jaishnav Kakkar (21) and Yash Parashar (22) from Haryana.

When contacted, a Clubhouse spokesperson had said, “There is absolutely no place for hate or abuse on the platform. We invest significantly in keeping our community safe and take swift action against any violation of our policies… If and when a violation of our Community Guidelines is reported and confirmed, swift action is taken i.e. suspended or permanently removed from the platform, depending on the severity of the incident. In this instance, the room was reported and those involved in organising were quickly actioned…”