AdminEight people from Cerme, Gresik in East Java, Indonesia were ordered to dig graves for the victims of coronavirus pandemic as punishment for not wearing face masks in public.
Suyono, the head of Cerme district said he picked this unorthodox punishment as local cemeteries are currently short-handed and this would get more locals to wear face masks.
“There are only three available gravediggers at the moment. So, I thought I might as well put these people to work with them. Hopefully, this can create a deterrent effect against violations,” Suyono told Tribun News.
Two were assigned to assist gravediggers, with one person tasked with digging the grave and the other made to lay wooden boards in the hole to support the corpse.
He added that the violators were instructed to perform the manual labour of digging graves and preparing the area at a public cemetery in the Ngabetan village.
The handling of the bodies and the burials of the victims is still done by public health officials with protective gears to prevent any risk of exposure to the virus.
Residents who violate the protocols are subject to fines or community service as punishment based on the Regent Law No. 22/2020.
Indonesian authorities have meted out a number of unusual punishments for Covid-19 related offences since mandatory mask rule came into effect in April such as locking up violators in a “haunted house”, lying them down in coffins and making them pray at cemeteries in the middle of the night.
Suyono added that the village administration in Cerme will be strengthening safety and health protocols as the number of positive Covid-19 cases continue to rise.
Indonesia’s total number of cases has now reached 221,523 with the death toll at 8,841 since the pandemic began.
