Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh): A canteen staffer of a theatre here chewed off another man’s ear during the screening of the blockbuster movie Pushpa 2: The Rule.
The violent act, reportedly inspired by a fight scene in the movie, took place at Kajal Talkies in Gwalior’s Phalka Bazar area on Tuesday night.
According to information, the victim Shabbir Khan, a resident of Guda Gudi Naka had gone to the theatre to watch south star Allu Arjun’s newly released film Pushpa 2. During the intermission, he went to buy snacks and landed into an argument over payment with the accused canteen staff members Raju, Chandan, and M.A. Khan.
Argument led to physical altercation
The argument escalated into a physical altercation, during which one of the canteen staff members attacked Shabbir and bit off his ear, that led to heavy bleeding.
The violent action was seen a replication of a dramatic action sequence in the film, in which the protagonist Allu Arjun rips off his enemy’s ear with his teeth.
Eight stitches on the ear
Later on, the victim was rushed to the hospital where doctors gave him eight stitches on his ear.
After receiving treatment, he filed a complaint at Inderganj police station. Based on his statement and medical report, the police registered a case against the accused under Sections 294 (obscene acts), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of a common intention) of the IPC.
‘Media is to blame’
Speaking to the media, Shabbir blamed the violent act on the negative influence of the movie, saying it had inspired the accused to act like gangsters. “The impact of such movies on people is dangerous. They think they can imitate these acts in real life,” he said.
The police assured that strict action would be taken after the medical report to prevent similar incidents in the future. This case has raised questions about the societal impact of violent films and the responsibilities of filmmakers in portraying such scenes.
