In a video that has now gone viral on social media, a few Indian police officers can be seen dancing while carrying a corpse.
Indian police version of the dancing pallbearers. Received via WA. Not sure about the location. Choreography could have been better. #COVID__19 pic.twitter.com/ryQ1nT830v
— Rahul Devulapalli (@rahulscribe) May 2, 2020
The Inspiration
According to a report by Fact Hunt, the gesture by the police is inspired by a viral meme video of Ghanian Pallbearers who were seen dancing while carrying a dead body. The trope first went viral in 2017 following a BBC report on coffin-carrying dancers in Africa.
Amidst massive casualties caused due to the Wuhan Coronavirus, the pallbearers were in the news again as they symbolised humour at a time of international mourning.
What is the truth?
The video wherein Indian cops can be seen dancing to the tunes of the popular music is a reproduction of the viral meme video. According to Fact Hunt, the video is from Koppal in Karnataka where cops enacted the dance moves to raise awareness about the Chinese virus, amidst the nationwide lockdown.
The ‘corpse’ used by the cops as part of the re-enactment is not a real one. The Coffin Dance Video is aimed at urging people to stay indoors and adhere to social distancing guidelines. The video is available on a Youtube channel named Media Power and is accompanied by the title “Koppal Police Performs Ghana.”
A similar initiative was undertaken by the cops in the Cuddalore district in Tamil Nadu. In the video, a man who had stepped out of his house on a joy ride imagines a group of cops dancing with his dead body. The scared biker then returns home and decides to stay indoors.
Cops turn creative to fight Coronavirus
This is not the first time that Indian cops have relied upon their creative instincts to deter people from unnecessarily wandering around on the streets. In March this year, 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.
