In a major development in the Bois Locker Room case, the Cyber Crime Cell of the Delhi Police, known as the CyPAD Unit, has arrested the admin of the Instagram group that carried photos of minor girls and women without their permission subjected to lewd comments, slut-shaming and body shaming.
The arrested youth is learnt to be a Class 12 student above 18. He studies in a school in Noida and gave his Class 12 exams this year.
On Tuesday, a 15-year-old student of a prominent school in South Delhi was taken into custody and several others identified as the city police on Monday initiated a probe against the Instagram chat group.
Fifteen more students of prominent Delhi schools have been questioned and their phones have been seized.
The police has so far identified 27 members of the group – some were underage and some 18 and older.
Leaked screenshots of the private Instagram chat group stirred up a storm over rape culture in India after numerous boys were allegedly seen sharing photos of underage girls, objectifying them, and planning “gang rapes”.
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 cyber cell of Delhi Police.
Meanwhile, the CyPAD Unit has asked for information about the alleged group and its members from Instagram and a report from the social media platform is waited.
Devices of identified members of the group have been seized and sent for forensic analysis.The role of other group members is being ascertained, informed the Delhi Police.
‘Bois Locker Room’, allegedly involving a group of teenage boys from Delhi schools, created a storm on social media on Sunday when a female Instagram user leaked chats from the group, including obscene images of around 15-16 girls.
“A group of South Delhi guys aged 17-18 types have this IG group named ‘Boy’s locker room’ where objectify and morph pictures of girls their age. Two boys from my school are a part of it,” she wrote.
She also shared the screenshot of the list of participants of the group and that of their chats where they could be seen sharing pictures of girls and passing comments over them.
The Delhi Commission for Women too swung into action and issued a notice to the Delhi Police and Instagram over the issue.
DCW chief Swati Maliwal said in the notice that the members of the group have been reported to have discussed techniques and methods of raping women and gang-raping minors.
“The commission is in possession of many screenshots of the group wherein the handle names and the usernames are clearly visible. This is a very serious matter as an open media platform is being used for illegal activities,” added Maliwal while asking the Delhi Police and Instagram to respond by May 8.
Class 11 and 12 students of four or five schools in south Delhi are believed to be involved in the outrageous forum on Instagram.