BOIS LOCKER ROOM GROUP CASE BHAVNI SAHAI BASICS OF LAW Tue, May 05, 2020, at ,04:20 PM Why Rape is so normalised in India? We repeatedly need to ask this to ourselves. We have to stand and protect the surrounding around us from this kind of culture. The potential threat is now a real threat! India has a rape culture. Many a time women's modesty has been outraged and thus this recent Bois locker room case stands as one more significant example of it. This case nurtured seeds of anger in the people of the country and everyone out there is condemning it through their posts. The whole incident triggered horror and furious reactions on social media. In a series of tweets, Me Too India, an outgrowth of the powerful global movement against sexual assault saying that there was an urgent need to address toxic masculinity. This whole case came into limelight when, a group of young boys started talking in a private group named as “Bois Locker Room” on Facebook-owned Instagram, which was outed across social media platform on 3rd May 2020, when a girl from south Delhi shared the screenshot on social media exposing the chat of this group. The leaked screenshots showed that the group consists of teenage boys aged between 15-18 years, who have been engaged in conversations which degrades women in every possible way, these conversation includes the major issues like gangrape, rape, body-shaming and slut-shaming, and objectionable comments on minor girls. When thing set so viral on a social media platform and the case stirred up a storm over rape culture in India, the case drew the attention of the Delhi Commission for Women, on which the commission took a suo-moto cognizance on this matter on 4th May 2020 and sent a notice to both the police and Instagram demanding immediate arrest and strong action against these members of Bois Locker Room. On the complaint of a private school at the Saket police station, the police registered a first information report and apprehended that a school student in connection with the case, who were teenage boys from South Delhi schools. The FIR was registered under: Section 465 (forgery), Section 471 (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record), Section 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form), Section 67A (publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form) of the IT Act,” “It was also reported that the members of the group have discussed techniques of raping women and gang-raping minors,” the Delhi Commission for Women said in its notice. “This is a very serious matter in which an online platform is being openly used for illegal activities. Seeing the gravity of the situation, the commission has instituted an inquiry into the matter and Instagram and Delhi Cyber Police have been asked to furnish a response by 8th May 2020. On 5th May 2020, Delhi Police said that all the members involved in the group have been identified and they are under police custody and will be called for an investigation and these accused would be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board(JJB). Below are the expected sections under which this case must be dealt: Section 345A of IPC, which holds them accountable for one-year imprisonment- for posting lewd comments on social media. Section 507 of IPC holds them punishable for 2 years threatening a woman by any kind of anonymous communication which is also intimidating. Section 509 of IPC- 3 years of imprisonment with a fine for posting sexual pictures or remarks or videos including sexual insinuations on social media. Section 503 of IPC- 2 years of imprisonment for threatening a woman by either alarming or malign her reputation. Section 499 of IPC- 2 years of imprisonment for defaming a woman online.