#BoysLockerRoom: 15-year-old arrested; obscene chat glorifying rape being investigated
The Delhi Police launched an investigation into an obscene private Instagram group, where minor boys of some posh Delhi schools discussed girls' body parts and made plans to rape them. A 15-year-old boy, who sent a message on the group titled "Bois Locker Room" has been apprehended, multiple reports said. A probe is on to find other participants. Here's what went down.
On chat, boys objectified girls, circulated pictures without consent
Late on Sunday night, a couple of Instagram and Twitter users busted the group by sharing screenshots of the conversations on social media. The boys, said to be 16 or 17 years old, circulated pictures of underage girls and passed lewd comments. When the screenshots surfaced, the boys threatened to leak nude pictures of the whistleblowers. Attempts were made to hack into girls' accounts.
The chats shocked Twitterverse, Delhi Police took suo motu cognizance
Throughout Monday, the conversations of the group remained a top trending topic on Twitter with users saying this incident sheds light on the deeply imbibed rape culture. Taking suo motu cognizance, the Delhi Police Cyber Cell filed an FIR. The administration of an elite school also filed a complaint at the Saket police station, a senior cop told Indian Express.
Boy was apprehended from his home, revealed cop
"Police, using technical surveillance, got the registered number of the 15-year-old, who had allegedly shared a photograph on the group. His phone was switched off. After finding his address, he was apprehended on Monday evening," the officer said.
Names of four prominent Delhi schools have cropped up
Police believe the Instagram group was created in the last week of March by boys studying in celebrated schools. So far, the names of four private South Delhi schools and one from Noida have cropped up. After the group was created, the admins added their friends, some of whom were college-goers. Police said the chats also included threats of sexual violence, besides the objectification.
FIR was registered under relevant sections of IT Act
IT Act's Sections 465, 471, 469, 509, and 67 and 67A were evoked in the FIR, informed DCP (Cyber Cell) Anyesh Roy. The aforementioned sections deal with forgery, harming someone's reputation, insulting a woman's modesty, and transmitting obscene material among others. "We are probing the matter and collecting all technical evidence," Roy said. Barring one school, most institutions haven't commented on the matter.
The incident came as a shock: Principal
The principal of one school told IE by the time they learned of the incident, an FIR had already been lodged. Further, the principal said, "It does come as a shock to us as we have an atmosphere in school that encourages discussion around issues of gender and respect, as well as cybercrime."
"Parents must play active role in kids' lives"
"I also believe that the involvement of parents in their children's lives is very important when it comes to things like these. Parents need to take on these roles, and not just that of disciplining or leaving the child alone altogether," the principal added.
Facebook also waded into the scandal, called behavior inappropriate
Facebook, which owns Instagram, also released a statement on the scandal saying the platform never condones behavior that promotes sexual violence. "We absolutely don't allow behavior that promotes sexual violence or exploits anyone, especially women and young people, and have actioned content violating our Community Standards as we were made aware of it," Facebook said, adding that it wanted to create a safe community.
Separately, DCW issued notices to Instagram and Delhi Police
After the screenshots surfaced, Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) took suo motu cognizance and its Chief Swati Maliwal demanded the arrest of the boys, saying they need to be "taught a lesson". "DCW has issued notice to Instagram and Delhi Police in the matter of a group named "boys locker room" being used by some miscreants," Maliwal wrote on social media.
