Hours after the controversial ‘Bois Locker Room’ Instagram group came to light, similar allegations were levelled on a group of men from Kolkata who are former students of Jadavpur University.
A group of men from a premier institute from Kolkata, have been using semi-nude and nude pictures of women in a Google drive and circulating it among their friends. These pictures have been used to threaten women in the past. The drive has been existent since 2016.
— Aiyoobrows (@Bratmatcat) May 4, 2020
Twitter user ‘Aiyoobrows’ in a series of tweets on Monday alleged that a group of men from the varsity have been using nude and semi-nude pictures of women in a Google Drive and circulating them amongst their friends. She alleged that the drive has been in existence since 2016.
The drive was started by Souryadeep Basak who was actively involved in the MUN circuit. Imankalyan Ghosh also has access to it. I’m sure there are more people who have access to it but I don’t know their names.
— Aiyoobrows (@Bratmatcat) May 4, 2020
She named two men, Souryadeep Basak, who allegedly owns the drive, and Imankalyan Ghosh, who had access to the same. Another Twitter user @SadMandalorion added to ‘Aiyoobrows’ allegations and said that when the latter wanted to expose she was requested by potential victims to not go forward with it as it would take a toll on their mental health.
When @Aiyoobrows wanted to expose this, she was requested by a number of potential victims to not go forward witt it because it would take a toll on their mental health. She was explicitly cold shouldered by one of his enablers when she confided in her about this incident. https://t.co/zVbExP8sdp
— Annewsa (@SadMandalorian) May 4, 2020
She further alleged that these images were obtained through manipulation of victims.
She even named few more men who were allegedly involved in sharing the nude pictures of women.To add to that, these pictures were solicited through manipulation. There was no consent on @Aiyoobrows‘ part. Secondly, her picture was uploaded to the drive link without her knowledge or permission. https://t.co/MEtyDnGXp1
— Annewsa (@SadMandalorian) May 4, 2020
Utsav Biswas, Iman Kalyan Ghosh, Ayush Banerjee and the rest of you that sheltered this monster, you are all complicit. Do not give me that “I was completely unaware about this” BS. YOU KNEW EVERYTHING ALL ALONG. https://t.co/nvLbwSXudD
— Annewsa (@SadMandalorian) May 4, 2020
Since then, multiple images of screenshots of women have been in circulation in social media where victims are calling out the behaviour. Speaking about an incident that happened to her in 2015, a woman has alleged that she was attending international MUN (Model United Nations) in Odisha where Basak allegedly asked her to send a picture of herself. To that, Basak allegedly send him his d*ck picture. Out of pressure, she sent him her intimate picture, assuming he would delete it later. She was shocked to find out that her picture was in the Google drive in circulation.
Another screenshot in circulation claims that someone had tried to manipulate her into sharing intimate pictures of her when she was in 12th class, i.e. a minor.
Another woman speaking about her experience at the debating society at Jadavpur University and the said Google Drive. She talks about something called ‘First Year F*ck’ which where the man in question would try to get physically intimate with first year students. She alleges that he was well protected by his close friends.
One woman recalled a 2016 incident when she was in the first year of college at Jadavpur University. Furthering about her interaction with Basak, she alleges that after she and Basak consumed alcohol, he made her play ‘sex game’ on his phone and tried to get intimate with her, which she politely refused.
However, he later texted her and manipulated her into sending him a picture of his bare back to satisfy his sexual appetite, she claims.
Another image showed a screenshot of a purported sexting between Basak and a woman.
As per a report by Times of India, the whistleblower ‘Aiyoobrows’ got to know about the drive in 2018 during the #MeToo movement in India where various women and men had come out to talk about sexual harassment experience at work place. As per the report, Basak started the drive in 2016 to save pictures from his ‘conquests’ of women he has been in relationship with and shared the intimate pictures with his group of friends. She says that she was too traumatised to find her own pictures there as well. She had sent the pictures after Basak allegedly manipulated her into doing so years ago and was traumatised to find that those pictures were being circulated without her consent.
The report further quotes Basak, the one who is accused of owning the Google Drive and sharing the images, who states that these images were the stories of his romantic affairs and never meant to objectify women. He reportedly told Times of India that since he was popular in college, he has had multiple affairs and romantic liaisons. He said that he knew both the women who have put allegations against him and he was having an affair with both of them and had cheated on both of them while in a relationship. He said that the relationships were mutual and that he has not committed any crime. He further claims that he has never circulated the intimated images he received from women.
Iman Kalyan Ghosh, another man who is accused of knowing about the existence of the Google Drive, claimed that he is disgusted that he never questioned Basak and extended support to those calling out such behaviour of men.
Bois Locker Room
Recently, social media was awash with repugnant details of an Instagram chat group comprising of boys that discussed ‘gang-raping’ girls in a group called ‘Bois Locker Room’ (Bois, being a spin on the word ‘boys’). The leaked photos of the “Bois Locker Room” (Boys Locker Room) Instagram group had kicked up a storm over the normalisation of rape culture in the country. The group allegedly ran by teenage boys, involved graphic sexualisation and sharing of private photos of underage girls, objectifying them and planning gang-rapes with minor girls.
Girls Locker Room
Soon after the chats of the ‘Bois Locker Room’ went viral, screenshots of ‘Girls Locker Room’ were allegedly leaked which showed voyeuristic chats between teenaged and presumably underaged girls. Besides sexualising and objectifying men, several screenshots of the girls’ version of Locker Room leaked on Twitter reveal that not just boys but girls are also active partakers in perpetuating body-shaming and making sexually explicit remarks.
