BoysLockerRoom: Shocking school boys chat of gang-raping minor girls busted in Delhi

May 6: When the country is busy in its fight against the deadly coronavirus, a group of school boys were busy planning how to gang rape minor girls. All these boys were students of posh Delhi schools. An Instagram chat group called ‘Bois Locker Room’ where teenage boys from prominent South Delhi schools discussed girls’ body parts and shared their photos has come to surface. The members of the group ‘Bois Locker Room’ shared obscene messages, morphed pictures of minor girls, passed lewd comments and planned ‘gang-raping’.

The scandal surfaced on Sunday when several social media users posted screenshots on Instagram and Twitter of “Bois Locker Room”, which had 100 members. A girl posted screenshots sent to her by a member just added to the group. Soon, the shockingly lurid content went viral. The Delhi Police Cyber Cell has lodged an FIR following a complaint about this private Instagram group. Police have also apprehended a 15-year-old boy and are probing the matter. The teen, from a well-known Delhi school, has identified 20 more boys who were active on the group.

Class 11 and 12 students of four or five schools in south Delhi are believed to be involved in the outrageous forum that is every parent’s nightmare; the schoolboys casually talked about rape, sexual objectification and slut-shamed schoolgirls on the chatroom. Police have so far found that some students of leading South Delhi schools created the Instagram group in the last week of March and started adding their friends. The group called “Bois Locker Room”, which has caused huge outrage since it was exposed on Sunday, is deactivated now.

Amidst the calling out and outrage, the India Me Too account made a pertinent point. Referring to the hanging of Nirbhaya’s rapists, the tweet said, “Tell us again how hanging four rapists in a day was supposed to strike fear in the hearts of men and boys? States can hang all the rapists they want, #boyslockerroom will continue unless the root cause of patriarchy, entitlement and toxic masculinity is addressed.”

The conversations followed a familiar pattern of sexual violence against women and girls — of shaming, vile objectification and an assertion of power over them. These boys do not live in isolation; they are the product of a patriarchal society that has allowed “locker room” talk to go unchecked. For a long-term solution to ensure the safety of girls and gender equality, it is incumbent on society — parents, teachers, classmates and society at large — to rid young boys of the sexism and misogyny that are often embedded in this culture.

Delhi Commission for Woman (DCW) chief Swati Maliwal who earlier issued notice to Delhi Police and Instagram said, ” Police have registered FIR in the Bois Locker Room matter and 15 years old was held last evening. I hope all culprits are arrested soon.