Cambodian police defended on Wednesday making arrests and punishing people by beating them using rattan canes for breaching coronavirus restrictions during a two-week lockdown aimed at containing a spike in infections.
The Southeast Asian country still has one of the world’s smallest coronavirus caseloads, but an outbreak that started in late February has seen overall cases spike to 7,747 and with 54 deaths.
Phnom Penh went into lockdown on April 15 and has declared some districts “red zones,” banning people from leaving their homes except for medical reasons.
