27-year-old Matthew Bogani Lani rose to Internet fame when he started claiming that he was one of the youngest doctors in South Africa. He often told his over 300,000 followers on TikTok that he was somewhat of a wunderkind (神童), skipping several high-school grades entirely to graduate at age 16, before enrolling at Wits University to study medicine. He often filmed himself patrolling (巡逻) through hospitals, claiming to be on his way to see patients and even giving out medical advice to his followers, or selling them medicine.
Last month, Matthew Lani was arrested inside the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg. This was not his first time masquerading as a doctor in the hospital for his online audience, as evidenced by some of his TikTok videos, but it was the first time he was caught.
Immediately after being arrested, the TikTok star asked to go to the bathroom, only to try to escape through a small window. Security guards realized he was making a run for it, called for backup, and Lani was caught once again and delivered to the police.
TikTok eventually banned his account after the University of Witwatersrand and the Health Professions Council of South Africa denied having ever had Matthew Lani as a student or member. He later created another account and continued posing as a medical professional.
Despite the evidence presented above, South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) issued a statement saying that it had “no evidence” to charge Matthew Lani with, thus confirming the accused lawyer’s claims that there was no real case against him. “His conduct… in actual fact, he was just doing it for entertainment,” Lani’s lawyer said. “There is no complainant here that says he actually consulted as a doctor… so as a result there is no case against him.”
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