On 5th May 2020, a series of horrific and disturbing incidents came to light when leaked screenshots from an Instagram group by the name of “Bois locker room” (bois used as a variant of the word boys) went viral on the social media platform.
It turned out to a scandal containing murky details of a sexual harassment network. On the following incidents, a letter petition by three Advocates Anand Verma, Kaustubh Prakash and Shubhangi Jain has urged the Supreme Court to take up the matter on the judicial side.
The group bois locker room is allegedly a group on Instagram run by teenage boys from reputed Delhi schools studying in classes 11th and 12th where objectionable pictures of women (most of them underage/minor girls) were being shared followed by lurid discussions on their bodies. The group allegedly also shared nude/morphed pictures of girls and threatened to leak them online when the girls exposed their activity.
Screenshots show the members of the group body shaming their classmates (also minors) and other women some of them as young as 14-15 years, objectifying them, passing lewd remarks on them and promoting rape culture. They also reveal that private objectionable photos of minor girls are being shared on the group followed by vulgar and lurid remarks about them.
The sharing of such obscene and objectionable pictures and vulgar comments by members of the group was reported and brought to light by some women who also hold private Instagram accounts. However, soon after, these women who leaked the screenshots started receiving rape threats from its members. Even after the leak, they discussed moving the discussions to another group and creating a separate chat group on other applications.
The screenshots of the private chat as publicly available online along with the alleged rape threats have been enclosed in the said letter petition. The leak has raised pertinent issues regarding the safety and privacy of women, especially minor girls, on video and photo sharing platforms. It is appalling how boys as young as 15 years of age glorify rape, discuss techniques of raping and gang-raping women and objectifying them most horrendously.
“Above all, instead of being apologetic or fearful, they are openly threatening the girls who are calling them out in public with dire consequences. If threats such as being raped, gang-raped, tortured and being beaten are so casual and common that they do not incite fear among the wrong-doers, then these wrong-doers certainly do not dread being investigated, charged or being punished.”
Given the gravity of the situation, the Delhi Commission of Women has taken cognizance of the incident and have sent a notice dated 04.05.2020 to Instagram by Facebook. The Delhi Police Cyber Crime Cell has also taken cognisance of the matter & started a probe. Based on social media reports, a case has been registered under relevant sections of the IT Act & other relevant IPC sections.
However, the tech giants have the potential of citing privacy concerns and thus, lead to a delay in the entire inquiry and investigation process. Additionally, the Court has been implored to intervene to ensure that jurisdictional challenges do not become an impediment in pursuing the investigation. Therefore, they requested the Hon’ble Supreme Court to take up this horrific incident on the judicial side and address the multifarious issues arising therefrom, such as safety, privacy and well-being of women, along with sensitisation and counselling of juveniles who are engaging in such conduct.
All the three Supreme Court lawyers who moved the letter petition maintain that the plea has been filed in their capacity.
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