A local official has ordered the digging of graves for eight COVID-19 victims who refused to wear masks in public in Indonesia.

As Indonesia faces an increase in COVID-19 cases, leaders in the district of Sermey, located in East Java, have strictly enforced social distance and mask-wearing policies.

For the eight people who violated the local mask order, it meant digging graves. District leader identified by Indonesian news Site Tribune News Suyono was sentenced because of the lack of graves in the area.

“There are only three graves available now, so I thought I’d consider working with these people as well,” he told the Tribune News. “It is hoped that this will create a barrier against violations,” he said.

Two people are assigned to each grave – one to dig the grave and the other to insert wooden boards into the holes to support the bodies. Cemeteries and embalming are not allowed in Indonesia, and bodies are traditionally buried without a coffin.

Those who do not wear masks are not allowed to attend traditional ceremonies, the report said Jakarta Post. For every SBS news in Australia, Forbade them from touching dead bodies. Instead, local officials wearing protective equipment were burying the bodies.

Indonesia has the highest number of corona virus deaths in Southeast Asia. As of Tuesday, 8,900 people had died. Johns Hopkins University. The country has been demanding that people wear masks since April.

Contributed by: Associated Press.

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