Death of Class 12 Boy and Instagram Chat Case in Delhi Leaves Parents and Authorities Shocked

A 15-year-old boy in New Delhi has been taken into custody for participating in an Instagram group chat that shared pictures of underaged girls. The content in the group chat is said to be highly “disturbing and shocking” leading the police authorities to arrest the boy. Further investigations are underway. 

The Instagram group comprises of schoolboys of prominent schools of South Delhi. Some of the boys are minors while some are above the age of 18. The group has been deactivated for now. The young boys were caught talking about gangrape and sexual objectification of women. 

Following this, another shocking incident has emerged where a class 12 boy committed suicide in Gurugram’s upscale residential DLF phase 5 area on Tuesday night. The reason for jumping from the building was that a girl called out his name in a “Me Too” post on social media. The deceased hasn’t left any suicide note. 

Both the cases are highly disturbing and leave us questioning the psyche of school-going youngsters. The above cases have left parents, school authorities, and youngsters perplexed. 

The emergence of the Boys Locker Room Story case does indicate that some parents are not aware of the kind of websites their kids are having access to and simultaneously some kids are being surreptitious about their online activities which could lead to dangerous outcomes. 

Pawan Duggal, chairman of the International Commission of Cyber Security Law, has observed a rising trend of children visiting pornography and “dark web” sites, more so during the lockdown. 

Why is there an increase in this trend? There are plenty of websites out there that can lure kids into accessing them, all out of curiosity. Age and raging hormones have a role to play in this. The emergence of these cases brings to light that parents should or at least make efforts to be more vigilant about their children’s online activities.

Sex education beginning at an early age could play a crucial role in helping youngsters understand the psyche of the opposite gender. Open conversations on sexual objectification of women, dangers of the cyber world, consequences of public shaming, the meaning of consent, usage of language, and other topics on these lines should be encouraged between parents and teenagers. 

Not to forget, children emulate what they see at home. So right parenting, instilling the right values, right ethics, and monitoring their peer groups are major factors that could curb these shocking incidents that are affecting today’s school students.