On the 4th, social media (SNS) TikTok influencer Ayla Meleck was walking with a friend along the Mileend Canal Road in east London when she was struck by a huge man and collapsed.
The man hit him even though he had enough space to pass by at the time, Mellek told BBC London, “It happened so quickly, and it couldn’t have happened that he hit someone on the ground with that much power and went away.”
Malek almost fell into the water due to the collision, but fortunately fell to the grass. He looked back and said that he was glad that there were no dangerous objects such as glass or metal. When he returned home, Melek shared his experiences through a TikTok video and warned of the possibility of similar things happening. Then, many people shared their experiences of “bumping gang.” They said they had similar things on public transportation, such as trains and buses, while walking on the streets in broad daylight like Melek.
London police arrested a 38-year-old man who ran away after hitting Mellec. The muscular man, who is about 193 centimeters tall, is also suspected of running away after hitting a 60-year-old man on another street in London on the 2nd.
Earlier in March, millionaire entrepreneur Sally Winter was hit by a “bumping gang” in the train and hit the window of a car. A man who hit Winter was also arrested by police, who said the man had been detained after kicking the child earlier, but was released after the child’s parents dropped the charges. The SCMP explained that the “bumping gang” that first appeared in Japan are mainly men who are frustrated because they failed to establish a relationship, and that they visit crowded places such as train stations or busy streets and express their anger by intentionally colliding with strangers.
They say it is difficult for fallen victims to respond in time because they quickly disappear into the crowd after bumping the gang.
The fact that the bumping gang was recognized as a social problem began with a video that spread on social media in May 2018. In the video at the time, a Japanese man intentionally hit at least four women in the shoulder in just 30 seconds and then disappeared. In July 2020, Japanese police arrested Daisuke Nagata for allegedly hitting six women in the chest for four days at a station in Tokyo. One of the victims was a 19-year-old student.
Nagata confessed that she started “problematic behavior” after her arm accidentally touched a woman’s chest when she got off the train.
Nagata described the feeling during the first “crash” as “great,” stating that he had deliberately repeated “problematic behavior” and had committed dozens of similar assaults.
The behavior of the “bumping gang” has sparked anger on social media, with many calling for tougher punishment.
One netizen said, “It feels meaningless to report to the police because there is no specific law to punish this kind of behavior.”
Another netizen criticized, “They are just losers.”
In Japan, as the bumping gang continued and emerged as a social problem, the railroad company defined it as a “civil abuse act” and strengthened the boundaries between guards and station employees.
SOPHIA KIM
US ASIA JOURNAL
