Indian 'Spiderman' Fined Rs 15,000 For Riding Without Helmet! (Video)
The friendly neighbourhood Spiderman has always had a huge fanbase. Many creators have capitalised on this acceptance and come up with social media accounts portraying the superhero in relatable scenarios. Think of Spider-Man buying groceries from a shop or riding a bicycle to work. Sounds fancy right? Most such videos have been racking up views on various social media platforms. In a recent crackdown, the Odisha police issued a fine of Rs 15,000 to Spiderman after he was found riding a motorcycle without a helmet, overspeeding, and committing a series of other violations. Content creation gone wrong!
This incident took place in Rourkela city. A man dressed as ‘Spiderman’ was seen riding what looks like a modified Kawasaki Z900 naked. The motorcycle reportedly had an aftermarket silencer and was quite loud.
On Wednesday (August 20), he was speeding through public roads. Since he had the costume on, the guy wasn’t wearing a helmet. The act put his life and those of the people around at risk. Some reports even say that the guy even performed stunts on public roads. The entire action caused massive inconvenience to the people and the traffic around.
The traffic police soon took notice of the ‘friendly neighbourhood Spiderman’s’ serious violations. They soon stopped him. The man reportedly failed to justify his act and was soon slapped with a heavy fine. He was issued a challan of Rs 15,000 on charges of riding a motorcycle without wearing a helmet, overspeeding, and using an aftermarket silencer on the motorcycle.
Why Was This So Wrong?
First, Spiderman is an iconic character. It isn’t one of those random heroes in fancy outfits, who you’d watch and forget. Spiderman and his ‘relatable character portrayal’ influence many. If ‘Spidey’ does things wrong, there are chances that people, especially the young ones, tend to normalise the violations.
Secondly, riding a 900cc motorcycle without a helmet is extremely dangerous, especially considering the fact that the man here was overspeeding. He was in fact, endangering the lives and health of those around for the sake of likes and views.
Another Spidey Busted!
In Uttar Pradesh's Meerut, another ‘Desi Spiderman’ created chaos by climbing up the city’s historic clock tower! The intention here was again to film a stunt video. Faraz, who has an Instagram account called ‘Spider Faraz’ was the person involved. He often takes the ‘Spiderman’ cosplay too seriously. He creates content by doing unsafe (and insane) stunts like climbing up tall buildings, and doing other crazy stuff.
Climbing the clock tower was also one such attempt. This time, however, the police stepped in on tme and got him arrested. He was booked under Section 125 (Act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
The cops explained that stunts like these are dangerous to the people around. Many also see the act as disrespecting the heritage structure. In movies, getting to see Spiderman climbing clock towers is common. The creator here, may have tried to recreate such a scene in an Indian setting, and ended up in jail.
Two Incidents, Core Values Lost
These two incidents took place in August. Fans and aficionados of the Spiderman franchise may now realize that August is the Superhero’s month! August 1 is celebrated as ‘World Spider-Man Day’ every year. It celebrates the character’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #5 in August 1962.
Over the years, we have seen many installations of the superhero- in comics, series and movies. ‘with great power comes great responsibility’ has remained the core moto of the character, and the same seems have been shattered by the creators here.