Backa Palanka Nun Costumes: Three Minors Face Charges
Police identified three minors who spent the past ten days dressing as nuns on the streets of Backa Palanka. They face misdemeanor charges, not criminal ones.
Police in Backa Palanka have identified three minors who spent roughly the past ten days dressing up as nuns and frightening passersby, children among them. All three face misdemeanor charges. Telegraf, SD.rs, Press and Mondo reported the news on the evening of October 31.
What is known about the Backa Palanka case?
According to media reports, the minors appeared on the streets of Backa Palanka over the past ten days in nun habits and scared people. The episodes upset some residents, and police have since established who is linked to them.
The charges are misdemeanor, not criminal. None of the articles describing the case says anyone was arrested. Mondo uses the word “arrested” in its headline, but it appears nowhere in the text itself.
The minors’ ages, the exact locations where they showed up and the name of the police unit that handled the case have not been published. For that reason we do not report anything beyond what is known.
Where did the stories about masked nuns come from?
The first reports of figures in black robes and white masks, resembling the character from the horror film “The Nun,” began spreading in early October, first in Indjija and nearby towns. Photos and videos circulated on social media, and posts soon followed from Beska, Jakovo, Ruma, Zrenjanin and parts of Belgrade.
Media reports say some parents claimed their children were frightened and were avoiding going out alone in the evening. In some places residents warned one another on social media about masked people showing up.
What remained unconfirmed elsewhere?
On October 18, the Interior Ministry (MUP) told the portal Nas portal, in response to claims about masked people in Indjija, that police had checked the reports and the social media posts and found that the events described had not happened.
Since October 21, several Serbian media outlets have tied part of the footage to a TikTok trend. Profiles called “Groka” and “Grokica” appeared on the platform, paired with the names of various towns and cities. The videos show people in nun costumes dancing, walking the streets or announcing appearances at particular locations. According to media reports, the aim of such content is to draw attention, views and reactions.
One of the latest cases was recorded on October 29 in Nis. Reports surfaced that people dressed as nuns had been seen near the “Kralj Petar Prvi” primary school in Pasina Poljana, and the school notified police. Principal Jelena Djordjevic said police officers checked the claims but found no evidence that anyone in such costumes had actually appeared near the school. She noted that part of the unease began after children watched TikTok videos and traded stories about masked people.
Who is behind the other reports?
The sources speak only about three minors in Backa Palanka and about the past ten days. They do not link them to the wave that started in Indjija, or to the TikTok profiles “Groka” and “Grokica.” For other places it therefore remains unconfirmed who, if anyone, was behind the reports: in Indjija the Interior Ministry says the events described did not happen, and in Nis police found no evidence of masked people appearing.
