A bizarre social media stunt in Madhya Pradesh, India, has landed a young man in trouble after his girlfriend covered his car with thousands of lipstick kiss marks.
Aditya Sikarwar, an Instagram content creator, reportedly had his Maruti Swift transformed into a “kissing car” after his girlfriend spent hours covering its exterior with approximately 3,400 lipstick prints.
The unusual makeover might have seemed like harmless social media content, but the viral video eventually caught the attention of Gwalior traffic police.
The police action has also raised questions about how such a romantic gesture could lead to legal trouble.
A man in India turned his car into a “kissing car” after his girlfriend spent hours covering it with 3,400 lipstick kiss marks
Aditya Sikarwar told NDTV that the unusual idea came from his girlfriend, who had apparently been inspired by a “foreign trend” circulating on social media.
“A female friend of mine made it. I had parked the car and stepped away, and she created the marks. I had posted the video on Instagram,” he explained.
“My friend thought that if we did this, the video would go viral, so we posted it. It did go viral. She covered the entire car with the marks.”
According to his account, the girlfriend spent roughly three and a half hours creating the unusual decoration, covering areas including the bonnet, doors, pillars, and boot.
As a result, the car was covered in thousands of lipstick prints, transforming what would normally be an ordinary car into an eye-catching social media prop.
The Instagram video reportedly racked up millions of views, turning the bizarre-looking vehicle into viral content.
The clip eventually came to the attention of Gwalior traffic police, who reportedly spotted the car moving through the City Centre area.
Traffic Police Inspector Abhishek Raghuvanshi explained how authorities became aware of the incident.
The bizarre Instagram stunt went viral before traffic police tracked down the car under “Operation Eagle”
“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,” Raghuvanshi told local media outlets.
Police subsequently tracked down the vehicle under what officials described as “Operation Eagle.”
ANI reported that officers seized the car after identifying it from the viral footage and found multiple traffic-related issues associated with the vehicle.
Sikarwar was then taken to the local police station and issued a ₹5,500 (roughly $58) fine under the Motor Vehicles Act.
Africa Studio/Adobe Stock (not the actual photo)
Police also made him remove the lipstick marks from the vehicle, with Sikarwar reportedly cleaning the entire car body under their supervision.
The content creator later acknowledged that he had not realized the stunt could get him into legal trouble.
“[My girlfriend] 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 man added, “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… One should never do anything that violates the law.”
The lipstick-covered exterior raised questions about what actually counts as an illegal vehicle alteration
The police action, however, immediately raised another question: How can something as seemingly harmless as lipstick marks on a car become a traffic-law issue?
“Cops are just jealous no doubt!” one person wrote.
Another user joked, “Why do they not let people enjoy simple pleasures of life, lmao? This is jealousy at this point.”
A third user commented, “Me as a cop would have not done it.”
“She spent hours putting 3,400 kisses on the car, and he spent hours wiping them off under police supervision. True teamwork!” one person quipped.
Another comment read, “Bro turned his car into a love letter and still got fined!”
“If the [fine] were only for breaking the traffic laws, then they shouldn’t have asked the guy to clean the car. So it sounds like an ego issue and to shame people for showing love publicly.”
The viral incident brought Section 52 of India’s Motor Vehicles Act into focus, as the provision deals with alterations to motor vehicles.
The law states, “No owner of a motor vehicle shall so alter the vehicle that the particulars contained in the certificate of registration are at variance with those originally specified by the manufacturer…”
The legal action sparked a heated debate online, with many netizens calling the fine “unfair” and accusing the cops of jealousy
A vehicle’s Registration Certificate, or RC, contains important identifying details, including its registration number, color, and engine number.
The basic principle is that owners cannot freely make changes that cause the vehicle to differ from the specifications recorded with the authorities without following the required legal procedure.
However, the law also lays down certain exceptions.
For example, certain alterations to an engine or its parts may be permitted to facilitate operation using a different type of fuel or energy source, including batteries, compressed natural gas, or solar power.
Under the law, when an alteration is made, the owner must report it to the registering authority within 14 days and submit the RC along with the prescribed fee.
The lipstick marks themselves aren’t best described as a standalone traffic offense simply because they were made with lipstick.
Rather, authorities reportedly treated the vehicle’s heavily altered appearance as part of the vehicle-modification issue.
The car was also reportedly being driven on public roads while the video was being made, turning what might otherwise have remained a private stunt into a traffic matter.
“Unhappy people who can’t bear to see others’ happiness… it reeks of jealousy!!!” one netizen fumed at the cops
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