8 Mask-Law Violators Made To Dig Graves For COVID-19 Victims As Punishment In Indonesia

Local authorities in Java, Indonesia, punished at least eight people by making them dig graves for COVID-19 victims after they were caught not wearing masks in public.

The eight locals were deployed at a cemetery in Ngabetan village in east Java’s Gresik regency. Officials hoped the punishment would serve as a warning to those flouting the country’s mask mandate, Indonesian daily Jakarta Post reported.

The head of the Cerme district, Suyono, told Indonesian local publication Tribune News the move also helped meet the shortage of gravediggers at the moment.

“There are only three available gravediggers at the moment, so I thought I might as well put these people to work with them,” he said.

The rule violators were assigned to each grave in groups consisting of two persons to assist the professional gravediggers, but weren’t forced to participate in the funeral services that followed, the Jakarta Post reported. One person helped dig the grave, while the other laid wooden boards inside the cavity to support the corpse.

Indonesia has recorded the second-highest number of coronavirus infections among other southeast Asian countries, with the Philippines topping the list. Total recorded cases in Indonesia, as of Tuesday, are 221,523 while the total death tally is 8,841, according to the data by Worldometer.

The country has placed its capital Jakarta under strict social restrictions after its critical-care facilities were overwhelmed and reached unsafe levels due to the rapid rise of coronavirus infections. Jakarta reportedly accounted for over 54,000 of the country’s total coronavirus cases as of Monday, with 1,391 deaths, according to the Associated Press.

Jakarta Gov. Anies Baswedan announced the restrictions will last from Sept. 14 to Sept. 27 in hopes to control the surge of coronavirus cases in the city.