Volunteers are dressing up as ghosts to scare people into staying home in a village in Indonesia. The spooky figures represent ‘pocong’ – a trapped spirit of the dead dressed in a shroud which are feared in the country.
If you go out at night in Kepuh village, on the island of Java, you might see the patrols. It’s an unorthodox way to try and encourage people to stay at home and practise social distancing during the coronavirus pandemic.
People are dressing as ghosts in Indonesia to spook people into staying in PlayMute Current Time0:00 / Duration Time1:12 Fullscreen But at first, they attracted more attention – the opposite of the intention.
Local resident Karno Supadmo said: ‘Since the pocong appeared, parents and children have not left their homes. And people will not gather or stay on the streets after evening prayers.’
Meanwhile, Anjar Panca, keeper at a nearby mosque, told the Jakarta Post it worked because seeing the ghosts reminded people of what could happen if they caught the disease.
The Post said that the pocong would stop people going by and ask them for ID and the purpose of their visit to the village, deterring people from heading out.
Anjar Pancaningtyas, head of the youth group which organised the patrols along with police, said: ‘We wanted to be different and create a deterrent effect because pocong are spooky and scary.’
The ghostly goings on are not the only original approach to coronavirus prevention. Some police officers in Indonesia as well as in India have taken to wearing helmets in the shape of the virus to remind people of the threat.
Rajesh Babu said he wore the virus hemet because it is ‘an attempt to do something different. When I wear this, the thought of coronavirus comes into the minds of the commuters.
