He may lack a cape and operate in broad daylight while wearing sandals, but this Indonesian man’s pointy-eared mask bears enough of a resemble to that of a certain Gothamite superhero that the local media has dubbed him “Batman Karung Goni” (Sack Batman) since his entire outfit was made of burlap.
(If we were comic book nerds (which we’re not), we’d say that Sack Batman actually looks more like a cross between Batman and his creepy supervillain adversary the Scarecrow…)
But Sack Batman is not a wealthy playboy/borderline criminal vigilante like Bruce Wayne. According to the police, Sack Batman was arrested on Monday after trying to break into the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) headquarters in the city of Palu, Central Sulawesi, but was stopped at the front gate.
“When he was questioned by the guard, he said he wanted to break into Brimob headquarters because he was hearing whispers in his mind. Right now, the man with the strange costume is being questioned. He said he has family in Palu. The police are now trying to locate this strange man’s family, based on the address he gave,” said South Sulawesi Police Spokesperson Hery Murwono, as quoted by Viva yesterday.
Though Sack Batman did not have a utility belt, he was carrying 18 items on him, including weapons such as nunchucks, a kitchen knife, and four bullets. He was also carrying cash, cigarettes and an amulet.
The burlap Batman also embroidered “Brimob” on his left chest pocket and the name tag “Nurul” on the other pocket, but the police have identified him as a 38-year-old man named Suryadi.
The police have not announced what, if any criminal charges, Suryadi could face and are looking into the likelihood that he suffers from some sort of mental illness.
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