A Writ Petition (Dev Ashish Dubey v. Government of NCT of Delhi and Ors.) has been moved before the High Court of Delhi to seek direction for the Government of Delhi and Government of India to get the matter of Instagram Group “Bois Locker Room” investigated by a Special Investigation Team or Central Bureau of Investigation in order to arrest all such people who were involved in the sexual offence and cybercrime against girls and women. The Petitioner further prayed for the protection of the girls and women who highlighted this crime on different platforms and other girls and women.
On the 3rd of May 2020, the social media witnessed a huge outcry regarding the pertaining issue and various screenshots from the Instagram group “Bois Locker Room” were shared. It was revealed through the screenshots that school students of Class 11 and 12 shared photos of underaged women, followed by lurid discussions on their body. The group was also a platform for sharing nude/morphed photographs of women.
The said group consisted of 16 to 18 years old boys from posh schools in South Delhi who discussed having a physical relationship with their classmates, rating them on a scale of beauty and size and shared photos of teenage girls.
After the revelation of the screenshots, various of the group members deactivated their social media profiles and also allegedly threatened to leak nude pictures of the women who stood up against the offence. One of the posts stated that
“Let’s post nude photos of all girls who posted stories about us. I have photos of some of them. Now they will know the result of these shenanigans. They will shut their mouth. They want to be feminists na… they will not be able to show their face in public”.
Petitioner’s Submission
It is submitted by the Petitioner that there is an apprehension that the girls who brought this incident in public might suffer some loss, hence it becomes necessary to take strict actions against the members of the group as soon as possible.
It is further submitted by the Petitioner that the Delhi Women Commission has taken cognisance of the matter and has sent a notice to Instagram and the police. However, the Petitioner believes that the investigation which would be conducted by the police would not be fair and it will be partial as the members of the group belong to high profile family.
It is stated by the Petitioner that “Morphing photos and staring images of people’s private parts is a violation of Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, as well as Section 354C of the Indian Penal Code”. The Petitioner further stated that the students would also be punished under Section 499, Section 503, Section 507 and Section 509 of IPC, and various provisions of POCSO Act, 2012.
It is submitted by the petitioner that
“the action of these students shows the mindset of the young generation towards the girls and if it is not stopped at this time and these people are not punished at this time, so it will lead to creating a lot of issues and increase of crime against the girls and women in the future time”.
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