Three teenagers in northwest Delhi allegedly killed a 24-year-old man, Shibu Hussain, who reportedly stopped them from playing gulli danda in a park on January 19. According to the reports, the boys were copying fictional crime dramas they had seen, and shot video of them beating up the victim to post online. The teenagers were reportedly ‘copying’ the look and mannerisms from the recently released Telugu crime drama, Pushpa - The Rise, starring Allu Arjun in the titular role, which was directd by Sukumar. The film had a pan-India release in five languages, including Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil and Kannada.
According to an Indian Express report, the three boys are aged 15, 16 and 17 respectively. During the questioning, the boys allegedly revealed that they had recently watched Pushpa and another crime series, Bhaukaal.
The report further adds that the boys used to follow several gangsters on their social media accounts and were aspiring to have a similar life and were not afraid of jail term as well. “They believed they will be released in 3-6 months and can go back home,” said an officer quoted by Indian Express.
However, the families are unaware of the teenagers’ behaviour and their involvement in the crime till the time they were arrested by the police. The parents of the 15-year-old teenager - a single mother whose husband passed away a few years ago, reportedly said that she did not know her son was mimmicking by movies and had committed the crime. She said that that she was unaware of the film, its reported influence on her son, and did not even know that the boy had a social media account. The father of the 16-year-old boy was similarly surprised. He told Indian Express that his son had dropped out of school a few years ago. Saying he “regrets everything” now, he added that the family did not have money to get a lawyer.
The police have also gone through the boys’ social media feed and have found that there were reels and videos of them where they were seen saying expletives, talking about guns, and dancing to Bollywood numbers. There were also pictures of them which were taken standing in front of a police station, they found. The police said they are trying counsel the boys, who have been sent to a juvenile justice home.