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.”
Inspector Rajesh Babu says, “We had been talking to 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.” https://t.co/dG3NCWpUPz pic.twitter.com/wwbkhRrinT
— 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.
According to the Police personnel, the Coronavirus helmet has been useful in raising awareness. The distinct approach taken by the cops has appealed to the minds of the commuters. Children after seeing the gear chose to stay at home as well.
This is not the first time when cops resorted to creative measures to make violators comply with the lockdown. In Bareilly district of Uttar Pradesh, cops publicly shamed miscreants, unnecessarily wandering on the streets during the ‘Janata Curfew‘ on Sunday, by making them hold posters that read, “I am the enemy of the society. I would not stay at home.”
A video of Punjab Police dancing to an altered version of the Punjabi folk song, ‘Bari Barsi’ had gone viral on social media. The cops were also seen punishing defaulters of lockdown by making them ‘Murga‘, a form of corporal punishment quite prevalent in the subcontinent.
