Indonesian newscast Tribun News reports that the Government of that country has imposed a serious punishment on citizens who refuse to wear masks: forcing them to dig graves for others who die from the disease.
“There are only 3 gravediggers available right now, so I think it could lead those other people to paint with them,” said a local official in Gresik, East Java, according to the translation of The Jakarta Post. this can create a deterrent that opposes violations. “
The macabre correctional strategy stands in strong contrast to that of the United States, where some states have enacted regulations that require citizens to wear masks to curb the pandemic, but there is still no national requirement.
Even those limited demands have been controversial, with protesters in the United States and Europe gathering to protest the wearing of masks.
This is not the case for Indonesia, which instituted a national mandate to wear masks in public in July, is a reaction to the 3,600 deaths at the time, a figure that has now risen to nearly 9,000.
The punishment for digging a grave is excessive. And Indonesia has a poor human rights record.
But there is a certain schadenfreude, as evidenced through the wide dissemination of history in the global media, by seeing other people who forget the fitness of others who are forced to face the mortality of those others in such a direct way.
“We urge the public to wear a face mask in accordance with COVID-19 fitness protocols,” said the east Java police leader, according to the Post.
READ ALSO: Gresik citizens forced to dig graves as punishment for dressing up in a face mask [The Jakarta Post]
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