Coronavirus crisis | Peru town Mayor acts dead to avoid arrest after breaking lockdown rules

Governments world over have imposed lockdown in their nations to curb the spread of the COVID-19 outbreak, which has claimed over 350,000 lives to date leaving over 5 million testing positive globally for the infectious disease. In that light, a mayor of a town in Peru, has ended up in the news for all the wrong reasons after he laid down inside a coffin in the hopes of acting dead to evade police officials who had come looking to arrest him for the violation of lockdown rules.

Jaime Rolando "El Cholo" Urbina Torres, alcalde de Tantará en Huancavelica (Perú), envalentonado por el alcohol, violó es aislamiento social por la pandemia y fingió estar muerto para no ser arrestado por la Policía. 😡🇵🇪🥃🍷 pic.twitter.com/Ur7coPDdhA

— Carlos Alberto Cardozo Cardozo (@Cabezaborrador) May 21, 2020

A photo of Mayor Jaime Rolando Urbina Torres of the central town of Tantara hiding in a coffin with a face mask on and eyes shut tightly has gone viral on social networking forums. Reports state the Peruvian mayor broke curfew rules to go out drinking with his buddies and the photograph was clicked when police officers had arrived to arrest him. Reportedly, Mr. Torres had jumped into an open casket while his friends hid in drawers after which the cops had sent them all to the local police station. Criticism against the Tanatara mayor has shot up now once again considering he was being called out for his work during the coronavirus pandemic.

Acalde de Tantará, en la región de Perú, en el marco de la pandemia #COVID_19 que azota al #país. Jaime Rolando Urbina Torres se introdujo en un ataúd, con los ojos cerrados, para evitar ser detenido por la #Policia. El lunes salió a beber este personaje #VenezuelaVictoriosa pic.twitter.com/Eh1fekLUZ5

— joel (@Joelochoa73) May 21, 2020

Tantara had entered lockdown as with the rest of Peru after the national government had imposed the order as measures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. Reports however state that Mr. Torres had only spent about eight days in Tantara since the lockdown had been ordered in March. Criticism has also come his way for his lack of action in opening emergency quarantine shelters and implementing safety measures in the town. The lockdown in Peru has been extended till the end of June and the nation has over 1.3 lakh COVID-19 cases to date with more than 3,700 deaths; all despite being one of the first South American nations to enter lockdown.