After Tamil Nadu Cop's 'Coronavirus Helmet,' Andhra Cop Rides Horse Painted With The Virus
A week into the 21-day lockdown and authorities across the country have been struggling to discipline people who have been constantly breaking rules and stepping out for frivolous reasons.
ANI
From lathi charging, making people do sit-ups, delivering amusing speeches and now turning to bizarre stunts, police have been doing everything in their power to discipline rule breakers and spread awareness about the need to stay home amid lockdown.
Andhra Pradesh: Sub Inspector Maruti Sankar, Peapally Mandal, Kurnool district rides a horse painted with images of #COVID19 virus, to create awareness among the public about the pandemic pic.twitter.com/xIFsktWahG
¡ª ANI (@ANI) March 31, 2020
Take for instance this Sub-Inspector Maruti Sankar who was seen riding a horse in the Pyapili town of the Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh. Maruti Sankar was on duty to check for lockdown violators and he decided to catch eyeballs by painting the horse he used for daily patrols.
The white horse had red circles painted on it, dotted with lines that resembled the structure of the highly contagious virus.
While the cop's intention was to spread awareness about the COVID-19 crisis, people on Twitter weren't too happy with the idea of painting the horse calling it animal abuse. What's worse is that cop is seen wearing no mask:
#1
This is very wrong , Why Abuse Animals ! There are many other ways .
¡ª Ekaant (@BhakkkBhosdike) March 31, 2020
#2
Thats stupid to do painting the horse
¡ª Anubrata Choudhury (@anubratach) March 31, 2020
#3
Better if he would be wearing mask. Thats awareness.. this seems heroic.. ?
¡ª ManishChopra (@emanishchopra) March 31, 2020
#4
Poor Horse, leave the poor animal alone....
¡ª Sunil Shenoy (@sunil_shenoy) March 31, 2020
#5
Could he not have painted his body than the poor animal? Smh
¡ª Kripal (@higher_keller) March 31, 2020
#6
Colors are harmful to animals. They 1000 times sensitive skins than humans
¡ª Ajay Sharma (@Aj_online) March 31, 2020
#7
Hello @PetaIndia any action on above inspector???
¡ª CeliC (@cleviic) March 31, 2020
The cop was seen roaming outside the residential colonies of the area on his horse in a bid to raise awareness and urge people to take all necessary measures to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Reuters
In a similar instance, a police officer named Rajesh Babu has collaborated with a local artist Gowtham and designed a 'coronavirus helmet' to raise awareness about the deadly Wuhan Coronavirus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. He wanted to persuade people to comply with the nationwide lockdown by understanding the seriousness of the issue.
Speaking to ANI, Inspector Rajesh said, ¡°We had been talking to the public. But, awareness among them is very less. So, we thought of doing something different. We designed a helmet that looks like coronavirus. We thought of doing something which will scare the people and make them stay at home.¡±
Tamil Nadu: Police in Chennai has been creating awareness among the people about the importance of them staying at home amid #CoronavirusLockdown by making a police personnel wear a helmet designed to look like Coronavirus. The helmet has been designed by a local artist Gowtham. pic.twitter.com/LlxrUYfihX
¡ª ANI (@ANI) March 28, 2020
¡°The public at large is not treating the COVID-19 situation seriously, whereas, the police personnel are working round the clock to ensure people stay at home and do not venture out so that further spread of the disease can be stopped. I came up with the idea and used a broken helmet and papers to prepare this. I have also prepared many placards displaying slogans and handed them over to the police,¡± Artist Gowtham was quoted as saying.
These cops are setting an example by replacing the blows of lathis with persuasive messages. Like this Punjab cop who urged women to put men to work at home during the lockdown.
This Punjab cop telling women to put men to work at home during #lockdownindia wins the Internet. Go home yo!!! pic.twitter.com/kwHtBPMuit
¡ª Nistula Hebbar (@nistula) March 27, 2020
In the video he says: ¡°Everyone knows the state of coronavirus disease in India. The PM and CMs of different states have been talking about it. Hence, I would like to request all my sisters that if the men at home are idle, saying that it¡¯s getting difficult for them to stay indoors, put them to work.¡±
¡°Tell them to clean your homes and terraces. Ask them to wash utensils and clothes. When they are at home you keep them busy, if they step out we'll take care of them," he adds.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in India has reached 1397, including 1238 active cases, while 124 people have been cured/discharged. As many as 35 people have died because of COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
