Indonesia’s Authorities Have Found a 'Spooky' Way to Punish Those Who Don’t Follow Quarantine Rules

Police leaders in the UK have told regional forces to arrest and fine people for breaking the coronavirus lockdown. Officers have been prompted to first “engage, explain and encourage” people to follow the new public health regulations, and “only as a last resort, enforce”.

Well, in Indonesia, authorities have found a very unusual way to discourage people from breaking the rules. The government of Sragen in Central Java has come up with a creative solution to get people to stay inside. Indonesian politician has decided to scare rule-breakers straight by locking them in a "haunted house". An official from Sukowati told AFP on Tuesday:

If there's an empty and haunted house in the village, put people in there and lock them up.

Two residents of Plupuh [a district in Sragen] agreed to self-quarantine, but violated that commitment. As a result, the two individuals were placed in an empty home that was locked from the outside. If they had obeyed the self-quarantine order, it would not have come to this.

Meanwhile, the neighbour village made headlines around the world for employing volunteers to walk around dressed up as ghosts to scare people who don't respect the quarantine. Acknowledging the Indonesians’ penchant for the paranormal, this strategy surprisingly worked like a charm.