Police in India physically strike people who violate coronavirus lockdown: report

Police in India are physically punishing citizens who violate the country’s lockdown imposed due to the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Authorities in Mumbai are beating citizens with batons as punishment for disobeying orders to stay inside, according to Reuters.

LOCKDOWN CRACKDOWN: Indian police give unorthodox, sometimes violent summary punishments to people breaking the country’s lockdown rules. https://t.co/M2koswvkGv pic.twitter.com/xvLx2O8qw5

— ABC News (@ABC) March 26, 2020

Other forms of punishment include police ordering groups of people on streets to perform squats or pushups as a way to humiliate violators of the lockdown.

India is a country of 1.3 billion people and does not have the medical capacity or hospital beds to support the effects of the virus, as other countries affected by the spread have reported shortages due to the outbreak.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suspended all tourist visas and advised citizens to avoid nonessential travel to help curb the spread of the virus.

The country ordered a complete three-week lockdown on Wednesday and reported around 500 cases of the virus.

Despite the currently low death toll, officials worry that the situation could mirror the rates of more affected countries such as China or Italy if the number of increasing cases follows a similar trajectory.