he is seen placing his hands on his knees, struggling
Indian police were caught on video forcing an elderly man to do squats as a punishment for breaching lockdown restrictions.
The incident took place in the district of Betul, Madhya Pradesh.
It was reported that the 71-year-old man was forced to perform the degrading exercise after opening his vegetable stall.
In the video, the man is seen dressed in a shirt and a pair of white shorts. He squats several times with his hands on his head.
A younger man is also seen squatting for supposedly breaching the lockdown guidelines.
The elderly man continues to carry out the punishment, however, he is seen placing his hands on his knees, struggling to get up.
Meanwhile, three men wearing facemasks watch the pair struggle through the punishment.
One man was wearing police uniform while another had a lanyard around his neck.
A senior police officer came across the video and stated that while the elderly man should have been punished for breaking lockdown rules, the officers should not have behaved in that way.
The incident is one of several reports emerging of Indian police forcing citizens to carry out degrading punishments for breaching lockdown.
There have been reports of citizens being forced to do sit-ups, squats and the ‘murga’ since India enforced lockdown restrictions on March 25, 2020, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic.
The ‘murga’ is a form of punishment used in India as punishment for petty crimes. A person squats then loop their arms behind their knees whilst firmly holding their ears.
Public shaming exercises as punishment for breaking lockdown have come to light in Mumbai, Amritsar, New Delhi and Kolkata.
There have even been reports of police violence.
Watch Indian Police force the Elderly Man do Squats
In one case, a woman was found dead in a street. It was claimed that she was a victim of police brutality during the curfew.
The incident happened in the town of Manimajra, Chandigarh.
It was reported that family members and locals heard about the death and led a revolt against the police.
Constable Reena Kumari explained that she and her colleague Sunita had been out on patrol when they received reports that a woman had collapsed in a nearby street.
The two officers found the woman unconscious and waited while a resident called an ambulance.
The woman was taken to Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), however, she was declared brought dead.
Meanwhile, the woman’s family and neighbours were told that she was beaten by police for violating curfew guidelines.
This prompted them to arm themselves with sticks and rods. They attacked police personnel, which forced them to retaliate.
Videos circulated online which showed some people throwing stones at officers while the police used lathis on the residents.
Another video showed some people blocking the path of the ambulance that was called and pelting it with rocks, forcing the driver to leave the area.
The family members claimed that police officers had hit the woman over the head with a stick, causing her death. However, DSP Dilsher Singh stated that the woman had taken some medicine and later fell unconscious. He said that the officers being in the area was purely coincidental.
He went on to allege that the deceased’s husband had a written statement which said that the police were not responsible for the death.
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