A video is doing the rounds on the internet that shows a couple of men being duct-taped in captivity. The visibly tired men were given headgear along with several layers of tight taping to look like Teletubbies — a British children's television series from the nineties. The men were completely restricted by tape — leaving out just the eyes and nose in the facial region and the palms in the lower torso.
The viral videos are being shared as originating from Indonesia, where a young man allegedly decided to teach some thieves a lesson. The posts on X said that the homeowner fell victim to frequent thefts and the police were not of much help.
The man then decided to take matters into his own hands and laid traps with the help of neighbours. Soon, he managed to apprehend four people who entered his home's courtyard at night, who were then tied up with duct tape and likened to the character "Tinky Winky" from Teletubbies, the story goes...
The videos went viral after he decided to make the thieves famous by sharing the clip of their capture, the posts said.
However, news reports indicate that the story is largely cooked up. While the video is of Indonesian origin and not AI-generated, it was not an instance of human torture as punishment for breaking in.
Instead, it was just another case of a desperate attempt to "go viral" on social media. According to Indonesia's Detik News, the video was created by a group of online streamers from Malang, East Java, who go by the name 'Batre TV YouTube content creators.'
Humour is the focus of their videos, and the said video was made during one of their live-streaming sessions. Speaking to Detik News, one of the influencers behind the viral video said he got himself duct-taped after being challenged to do so by one of the viewers. He started getting uncomfortable as he had eaten shrimp, which caused the uneasiness in his face, he reportedly told the press.
Later, certain Instagram handles used the video without their permission alongside untrue narratives, they said. "Finally, an Instagram account called 'Harian Kampung' was taken over. It provided a low -quality and inappropriate narrative , and it eventually went viral, spreading across all social media," the content creator told Detik News. The full report can be read HERE.
