'Bois Locker Room' : Delhi Commission For Women Takes Suo Moto Notice; Writes To Instagram, Delhi Police

The Delhi Commission for Women (DCW) on Monday took suo moto cognizance of reports about "Bois Locker Room', an Instagram chat group where objectionable comments were made about minor girls.

The DCW has issued notice to social media platform Instagram and Delhi Police after leaked screenshots of lurid discussions from the group surfaced recently.

DCW took suo motu cognizance of chats among Delhi schoolboys in this group, which revealed that they were sharing private photos of underage girls, sexualising them and planning to rape minor girls.

"It is reported that the group is used for sharing objectionable pictures of minor girls and young women along with their personal information. The members of the group have been reported to have discussed techniques of raping women and gang-raping minors.", said the notice issued by DCW.

Noting that this group comprises of several hundred members, DCW Chairperson Swati Maliwal has highlighted the seriousness of the matter as several illegal activities are supposedly being carried out in an open media platform.

"The commission has received several 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."

Given the gravity of the situation, an inquiry has been instituted and Instagram and the Delhi Cyber Police have been asked to furnish a response by May 8. Details of group admins and members have been sought, along with information regarding action being taken by the Social Media platform in this regard.

It is reported that the group is run by boys between the age group of 16-18 years living in South Delhi, and comprising of others as young as 13-14 years. 'Bois Locker Room' is allegedly also used to share nude and morphed pictures of minor girls, in addition to objectification and explicit language. The issue has raised several concerns regarding the safety and privacy of women, especially minor girls, on video sharing platforms.