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Bhavna Vij
BARAUT, AUG 27: Shaktiman donned the role of a killer when a 42-year-old man from Baraut assumed the identity of the small-screen hero, down to the steel armour he made himself.
On the night of August 25, Vasti Singh got into his Shaktiman armour -- as he had been wont to doing at times in the past two months -- and came out in the narrow lane outside his house, brandishing a sword.
He went to the neighbour's house and asked him to vacate his house. The terrified neighbour ran to the police station, barely 100 meters away, and complained about Vasti Singh. Constable Tikam Singh and home guard Jaiprakash rushed to tackle Vasti Singh who had gone inside his house. As soon as Tikam Singh bent his head to enter the house, Vasti Singh attacked him with the heavy sword -- one blow splitting his head open.
Then he snatched the dead constable's 303 rifle and started firing, running towards the home guard who fled and reported the incident at the police station. Baraut police station in-chargePrabal Pratap Singh came with reinforcements and it took a team of a dozen policemen over three hours to take charge of the situation. Vasti Singh -- locked in his first floor room -- continued to fire at the policemen and was finally killed in the encounter.
Vasti Singh -- a six-feet-two-inches tall man, weighing nearly 150 kgs -- had been sitting in his room, making the armour, using steel sheets, screws and leather straps. The armour was complete with the headgear and two shields. He apparently finished making his Shaktiman dress two months ago and came out wearing it several times, scaring the neighbours and the children. His elder brother Ghasita Singh, former chairman of local municipal council and a property dealer, said that Vasti appeared mentally ill.
``We had even taken him to AIIMS and G.B. Pant hospital in Delhi for treatment about 10 years ago. But the doctors could not found anything wrong with him and said the problem with him was that he was idle and that he needed to work. But henever did it,'' Ghasita Singh said.
Vasti had married in 1979 but soon separated. His elder brother said that he preferred to be alone in his room and did not let anybody come near. Various kinds of tools which he must have used in making the armour were recovered from his room. ``He even broke the wooden bed in his room and used the parts for various things. Even I was scared of him. Only our mother used to go up to give him food,'' said Ghasita Singh.
Vasti Singh chain-smoked bidis, loved eating raw eggs and bananas. ``Even after eating his food, he could eat as many as 40 raw eggs and four dozen bananas. He drank about five litres of milk everyday, never from a glass, but straight from the bucket,'' his brother said. However, his main grouse was that he had never lifted a finger to do any work.
``He stopped studying after Class IX, saying there was no need because he was never going to work. He always said that he was the king and we were his subjects, and that it was our duty to serve him and caterto all his needs,'' Ghasita Singh added.
Piyush Anand, Superintendent of Police (SP), Baghpat, said that his neighbours too were terrified and had stopped sleeping outside. Mahender Singh, a next-door neighbour, appeared rather relieved about Vasti Singh's death. ``Everybody was petrified of him. He was capable of doing just anything. Life will be more peaceful now,'' he said.
This is just one of a series of bizarre events that have been linked to the Doordarshan serial, a desi version of Superman.
There were reports from different parts of the country about children trying stunts, either imitating Shaktiman or attempting dangerous things, expecting him to come to their rescue.
After much controversy and surveys about the effect of tele-serial Shaktiman on children, it was allowed to continue and shifted to Sunday morning slot. A three-member committee gave their report a fortnight ago, giving the serial a clean chit, saying it should not be taken off the air. The report said thatthe serial was a ``refreshing contrast to the climate of violence, cruelty, exploitation of sex, crime and the like being generated in a series of films and tele-serials.''
The committee was appointed by Justice M K Sharma of Delhi High Court.
Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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