Instagram and Snapchat’s Boys Locker Room Incident proves How trolls shift focus from real issues

Boys Locker Room incident that took place in Delhi shows the criminal mentality and sick sexual fantasies of the youth of the country. A shocking incident came in limelight when a group chat of 24 juvenile boys was circulated on Instagram. The content of group chat was explicit including the names and photographs of the girls, the type of sex positions, gang rape and consequences if the girl did not comply to their whims and fantasies. 

When the screenshot of the group chat was circulated on Instagram, it became a national gossip and was heavily criticized. Soon complaints were lodged and Delhi police started investigating the case and the names of Elite schools and students of some elite families in Delhi and Gurugram were identified. 

An 11-year-old student of an elite school committed suicide fearing complaint against him that will malign his parents image and his chances of studying abroad. But, as the investigations escalated, a shocking fact was revealed stating that a girl had created a fake account to check the strength of character, commitment and loyalty of the boy. 

Another similar incident took place on Snapchat and netizens have linked the two incidents. The two incidents were totally different, but the trolls and criticizing posts have linked them and started a new trend of #BoysLockerRoomTruth, #NotAllMen, #FakeFeminism on Twitter. 

Yet again, the real issue in hand is forgotten and people have started following trends that initially talked about much-needed modern sex education, and now has been diverted to Feminism and women bashing. The trend has misled the netizens from the real issues and it seems that people are mindlessly hurling on each other. 

The real question should have been, “Why did a girl feel to plan an assault on herself to check the character of a boy? Haven’t we as society failed to foster values in boys and men, which has led to women feeling insecure and have trust issues? What kind of future is there for the girls, where men talk about rape casually as a fantasy?

The incident again brings us back to the age old patriarchy pattern of society. Where women are responsible to protect themselves, whereas men are not taught to respect a woman and protect her. It is high time that real issues are taken seriously and dealt upon, rather than having endless and pointless debates on trends on social media.