New Delhi: Soon after the Delhi Police started questioning a prominent South Delhi school student in connection with the Boys Locker Room controversy probe, 22 others linked to the group chat have gone underground on Tuesday.
The Cyber Cell of Delhi Police earlier detained one teenager in connection with the Instagram chat group where rapes were glorified and personal photographs of underage girls were shared and objectified.
The one who has been interrogated so far is a 15-year-old student of a prominent school in South Delhi. “22 other boys have also have been identified and they would be called for an investigation,” the police said on Tuesday. The accused who have been detained would be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB).
Based on the information provided by the minor during questioning, police teams have been set to various parts of the National Capital Region. After the police registered the case, many students in the group have run away and are hiding from the police.
Leaked screenshots of the private Instagram chat group went viral and stirred up a storm over women objectification in India after numerous boys were allegedly seen sharing photos of underage girls, objectifying them, and planning “gang rapes”. The screenshots show exchanged messages between the boys of the group talking about having numerous objectionable pictures of specific girls and encouraging the others in the group to partake in the horrendous activities they were discussing.
A case was registered under section 465 (forgery), 471 (using forged document), 469 (Forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 509 (intending to insult the modesty of any woman) of the IPC and 67 and 67A of the Information Technology (IT) Act at the cyber cell of Delhi police.
Earlier on Monday, the police received a complaint from the principal of a prominent school in South Delhi’s Saket at the Saket police station requesting a probe into the matter, the same was forwarded to the Cyber Cell thereof.
Apart from this, another complaint was filed at a police station in North Delhi by a parent in connection with this Instagram group.
On Monday, the police had asked the photo-sharing app Instagram to share the details of all the participants of the said group where photos of underage girls were being shared and were being objectified.
The incident came to light after a girl from South Delhi shared the screenshot over social media exposing the said groups and scores of similar groups. The girl was a part of the group chat and went ahead to bring this to the notice of everyone when the boys started using derogatory language, speaking about the girls’ pictures and their intentions.
She wrote, “A group of south Delhi guys aged 17-18 types have this Instagram Group Chats named “boy’s locker room” where they shit on, objectify and morph pictures of girls their age. 2 boys from my school are a part of it. MY FRIENDS AND I ARE FREAKING OUT THIS IS SO EWWW AND NOW MY MOM WANTS ME TO QUIT IG.”
The girl also shared the screenshot of the list of participants of the group and that of their chats where the said persons are seen sharing pictures of girls and passing comments over it. The same has gone viral on social media and thousands are seen speaking against ‘boys’ locker room’ culture and how some men are a part of such groups where they glorify rapes and assaults to women.
The Delhi Commission for Women too swung into action and issued a notice to the Delhi Police and Instagram over the issue. “I saw the screenshot of the “Boys Locker Room” group on Instagram. This is a clear example of a gruesome criminal and rapist mindset,” Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal said. “We are issuing a notice to Instagram and Delhi Police. All the boys in this group should be arrested,” she added.
According to National Commission for Women (NCW) data, 54 cybercrime complaints were received online in April in comparison to 37 complaints – received online and by post – in March, and 21 complaints in February. The panel is taking complaints online due to the lockdown. The Cyber experts have told that the complaints received are only a small portion of the actual cyber crimes happening during the lockdown.
“We received a total of 412 genuine complaints of cyber abuse from March 25 till April 25. Out of these, as many as 396 complaints were serious ones from women, (and these) ranged from abuse, indecent exposure, unsolicited obscene pictures, threats, malicious emails claiming their account was hacked, ransom demands, blackmail and more,” said the founder of the Akancha Foundation, Akancha Srivastava. “This is just the frustration and anger that is coming to the fore as there is no other release right now. This is a form of frustration as they (cybercriminals) are caged right now,” she said.
“Men are morphing images and threatening women. There is a whole racket going on where women are getting these emails that your phone and laptop have been hacked, and if you don’t deposit money my account I will send your morphed images and share it with all your contacts,” Ms. Srivastava added.