An Australian named Marita Leaning Daniell caught the attention of Indonesian netizens after she was filmed rowing with police in Bali on 9 March.

Police had stopped her for riding her scooter without a helmet. She was also wearing headphones.

The woman was spotted on Tibubeneng Street in the North Kuta area of the island.

In the video she spoke Indonesian and claimed to have lived there for 23 years.

Some Indonesian netizens criticised her for thinking she was above the law, with some suggesting that attitude was common amongst 'bule' (a slang term meaning albino that can refer to white people, Westerners or foreigners in general).

However, others have noted that police on the island are quick to stop foreigners on scooters for infractions such as not riding with a helmet or not carrying a driving license -- and sometimes no offence at all -- in the hope of extracting a 'fine' in excess of the legal amount, some or all of which is then pocketed.

An Australian tourist named Marita Leaning Daniell has caught the attention of netizens after she was seen having an argument with the police on Tibubeneng Street, North Kuta, Badung, Bali, Indonesia. Daniell was spotted riding a motorbike without a helmet and using a headset.

The altercation went viral after it was uploaded on the Instastory of @greatestescape_bali, who tagged the accounts of @moscow_cabang_bali, @niluhdjelantik, and @punapibali. The video was then reposted by many other accounts.

The Head of Public Relations at Bali Police, Kombes Stefanus Satake Bayu Setianto, explained that the incident happened during a traffic enforcement operation on Thursday (9/3/2023) at 1:30 pm WITA. "During the process of traffic law enforcement, there was a dispute with the foreign national, which was then recorded by the public and uploaded on Instagram," said Satake Bayu.

As seen in the video, Daniell was stopped by police officer Bripda Anang Agung Upadana. "When stopped, the rider tried to evade and the officer attempted to stop her," explained Satake Bayu. This was when the argument occurred.

Because she tried to evade, other officers had to assist in stopping Daniell. However, the blonde woman refused to stop, so the police had to turn off the motorbike and take the vehicle key.

During the inspection, Daniell presented the vehicle registration certificate (STNK) for her Vespa Primavera motorbike with license plate number DK-5883-FCR. She also presented her driver's license.

"For the violation, the officers issued a ticket with register number F7143789 and seized the evidence of the vehicle registration certificate DK-5883-FCR," said Satake Bayu.