A romantic gesture that was intended to become a social media moment ended with a ₹5,500 fine for a man in Gwalior after his car was covered with thousands of lipstick marks.
The unusual car decoration reportedly involved around 3,400 lipstick marks, left by the man's girlfriend. The vehicle was subsequently driven around the city for two days, and a video showing it went viral on social media.
Police later tracked down the vehicle and took action against its owner for modifying the car, according to an official.
Viral Video Draws Police Attention
Traffic Police Inspector Abhishek Raghuvanshi said a video of the vehicle had surfaced on social media.
"Two days ago, a video went viral on social media showing a car with lipstick-like marks on its body moving in the City Centre area," he told news agency PTI on Monday.
Following an investigation, police traced the vehicle to the Thatipur area. The driver was taken to the police station, where a ₹5,500 fine was imposed under the Motor Vehicles Act, the official said.
Police also instructed the owner to clean the vehicle and remove the lipstick marks from its exterior.
Girlfriend Spent Three-And-A-Half Hours On The Car
Car owner Aditya Sikarwar told reporters that his girlfriend had decided to decorate the vehicle after seeing what he described as a "foreign trend".
"She spent about three and a half hours working to create 3,400 lipstick marks all over the car and then uploaded a video of it on social media," he said.
The decoration was then taken onto the city's roads, where it caught attention before the video spread online.
‘One Should Never Do Anything That Violates The Law’
Sikarwar said he had not realised that decorating the vehicle in this manner could lead to police action.
"Since I wasn't aware that doing so was illegal, after the police action, I cleaned the entire car body to remove the lipstick marks and paid a fine of ₹5,500. One should never do anything that violates the law," he added.
The incident has since drawn attention online because of the unusual combination of a romantic gesture, a viral video and subsequent traffic police action.
According to the police, the issue was not simply the personal gesture itself but the modification of the vehicle being driven on public roads. Following the police action, the car was cleaned and the lipstick marks were removed, news agency PTI reported.
