Indian police use violence against coronavirus lockdown offenders

Baton-wielding police in India have been filmed beating people breaking the coronavirus lockdown rules and making some offenders do physical punishments.

Joe Davies reports

Like many countries battling the coronavirus pandemic, India is in lockdown.

The police here have resorted to physical punishments for those who breach it.

Footage has emerged from Mumbai of them beating motorists with their batons.

And there have been many such incidents filmed in multiple locations.

At one point police are seen ordering locals to do squats.

And they're not the only ones given humiliating, public punishments.

Some were made to do press-ups at the side of the street.

This is a country of 1.3 billion people.

It has far fewer hospital beds than other countries currently overwhelmed by the coronavirus.

On Wednesday (March 25), it went into a three-week lockdown.

It may have only a little over 500 confirmed cases and a very low death toll compared to other countries, but it fears it could follow China, Italy and Spain.

Whether the methods police here are using to stop that from happening are the right ones is another matter altogether.