Viral: Motorcyclist pretends to be possessed to avoid ticket, cops don’t buy it

A motorcyclist in Indonesia pretending to be possessed by a ghost to avoid a ticket. Photo: Video screengrab
A motorcyclist in Indonesia pretending to be possessed by a ghost to avoid a ticket. Photo: Video screengrab

Many Indonesians still believe in supernatural superstitions such as ghostly possessions, which has been used by certain unscrupulous individuals to get out of some sticky situations.

These cops weren’t buying it, though.

Last Friday, the Bengkulu Provincial Traffic Police posted three clips on their Instagram page of a motorcyclist who appeared to become possessed by a malevolent spirit after he was pulled over for not having side mirrors on his motorcycle.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bi51DAhjgub/?utm_source=ig_embed

In the first clip, the motorcyclist – with his head down, hand curled up like a claw and a poor attempt at a guttural growl – warns the cops who pulled him over, “I swear! I will remember your faces!”

The cops do not appear spooked at all, with one narrating to the camera that they had drained the fuel out of perp’s motorcycle as punishment.

Slide right to the second clip and you’ll see the motorcyclist crying and one cop attempting to comfort him. The cop then says, possibly while trying to contain a smile, “Why are you crying? It’s Ramadan, you shouldn’t be possessed.” The cop then says, “Are you fasting? You are? Then stop crying.”

In the final clip, the motorcyclist is now lying face down on the floor and he’s being made to recite a pledge, dictated by the cops, promising that he will never pretend to be possessed to get out of trouble again.

It’s not clear if the motorcyclist was punished beyond the humiliation and leaked fuel, but under Indonesian traffic law, missing side mirrors on motorcycles is an offense punishable by one year imprisonment or a fine of IDR250K (US$17.71).

Many Indonesians have claimed to have been possessed in the past. In 2016, a factory in Bekasi sent home all 700 of its workers after 30 of them supposedly became possessed, one at a time, during the course of one morning. Demons have apparently taken control of cinema-goers’ bodies too, with reports of possession during the screenings of The Conjuring 2 and Annabelle in two different cities in recent years (though there are hints that those possessions were viral marketing stunts since the two movies are from the same horror franchise).

But not all pretend possessions are bad. In 2015, a 17-year-old girl in Banten escaped a rape attempt in an angkot minivan, reportedly after she screamed like a ghost was possessing her.



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