Lawyers seek SC's intervention into 'Bois locker room' incident

Three lawyers have asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the disturbing incidents of “Bois locker room”, an Instagram group of teenagers here, whose screenshots related to the threat of rape of girls got leaked and became viral.

There are "issues of not only privacy, safety and well-being of women, but also of sensitisation and counselling of juveniles who were found to be engaged into it," a letter petition by advocates Anand Varma, Kaustubh Prakash, and Shubhangni Jain.

The lawyers said the horrific incident should be taken up by the court on the judicial side to address the multifarious issues arising therefrom.

They pointed out the leaked screenshots showed the members of the group body shaming their classmates and other minor girls, some of them as young as 14-15 years, objectifying them, passing lewd remarks on them, and promoting rape culture.

"They also reveal that private objectionable photos of minor girls are being shared on the group followed by vulgar and lurid remarks about them. The boys also threatened to leak objectionable pictures of women online," they submitted.

They said the social media platforms have bridged the gap of communication but it has also become a platform of public harassment of women in particular.

"Anonymity of the accounts has become an easy medium to threaten whoever you want to and indulge in cyberbullying. It is also an easy platform to be conspicuous and share objectionable, obscene and private pictures, chats, and other messages," they said, showing their serious concern over the incident.