A viral video taken in Jakarta showing what looked like a well-choreographed street brawl turned out to be exactly that, with the police apprehending a couple of social media clout-seekers for staging the fake fight.
The video starts with four thuggish-looking men ganging up on a well-dressed man as they were crossing the busy Jalan MH Thamrin in broad daylight. Before the fight was broken up, the well-dressed man managed to ward off his assailants with some strong blocks of the forearm, wing chun-style.
The video, which was reportedly taken last Tuesday, was originally uploaded on Instagram by viral aggregator account @peduli.jakarta and soon went viral.
Yesterday, Police in Menteng, Central Jakarta apprehended the well-dressed man, who is identified as a college professor with the initials FG, as well as his student, a woman identified as YA.
Both were apprehended under suspicion of disrupting public order by spreading misinformation, which, under Indonesian law, carries a maximum ten-year sentence.
Menteng Police Chief Guntur Muhammad Thariq said FG hired four auto rickshaw drivers in the area — identified by their initials D, BI, AS, and AW — to pretend to assault him for the video. The drivers were paid IDR500K (US$36.46) for their troubles and it remains to be seen if they would be charged as accomplices.
“His student YA recorded the fight. The suspects wanted to create an impression that Jakarta isn’t safe and prone to criminal activity,” Guntur said, as quoted by state news agency Antara.
FG then sent the video to @peduli.jakarta, which has over 83,000 followers, to make it go viral for the small sum of IDR50K.
FG confessed to the police that he created the fake fight video to increase his popularity on social media.
“The video was for [social media] content. The fight was wing chun martial arts,” FG said.
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