In a headline that could soon wind up coming out of the U.S. if Joe Biden is elected President, eight people in Indonesia were forced to dig the graves of coronavirus victims as penance for not wearing their masks when leaving their homes.
The punishment is supposed to act as a “deterrent” for others to not violate Covid-19 guidelines, according to the Evening Standard.
The persons suspected of breaking the rules were caught leaving their homes without masks and, as a result, were ordered to dig graves at a public cemetery in Ngabetan village, according to the report. The offenders were asked to dig the graves in groups of two, but weren’t asked to attend the ensuing funeral services.
“There are only three available grave diggers at the moment, so I thought I might as well put these people to work for them. Hopefully this can create a deterrent effect against violations,” Cerme district head Suyono said.
This follows Anies Baswedan, Governor of Jakarta, issuing new restrictions that don’t expire until September 27 to combat the capital’s outbreak. Crowds on main streets have thinned out since the implementation of the new rules, which were put in place because medical facilities were once again reaching “unsafe levels”.
Seven of the 67 Covid referral facilities in Jakarta are 100% occupied and 46 of them are more than 60% occupied.
More than 54,000 of Indonesia’s 218,000 Covid cases are in Jakarta.
