In Colombia, Citizens are Bound by Their Feet for Quarantine Violation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the past week, the municipal government of Tuchín, Córdoba, Colombia, stepped up its punishment of residents who violate the social isolation rules decreed to prevent the novel coronavirus from spreading in the region.

Now, those who are caught wandering the streets for no reason, violating mandatory quarantine, may be punished by being trapped by the feet in a wooden structure known as a stump in one of the city’s public squares.

“We have increased the police force base in the municipality, along with the Indigenous Guard, the Army and the Police. People who are not complying with the mandatory isolation measures are being punished,” Mayor Alexis Salgado explained on his Facebook.

According to Salgado, although the measure had not been employed for a few years, it is provided for by law and was already part of the tradition of the Zenú indigenous people, of whom the population of Tuchín is descendant. He explains that the enforcement of this type of penalty makes it possible for the residents to maintain their identity.

“In order to preserve the institutional structure and respect the habits and customs of the Zenú people, this coordination is being carried out.

We want to be an example of respect and demonstrate that, despite the diversity existing in our territory, institutions are joining forces to protect everyone’s health,” he told the local newspaper El Tiempo.

The mayor said that within a few hours of the punishment being imposed, the results were favorable and the traffic on the streets decreased: “If we impose an economic sanction, the vast majority will not be able to pay it, but if we resort to these practices typical of their culture, we are making them comply with the laws and keep their traditions alive”.

According to the city’s official website, Tuchín is home to approximately 35,000 people. In an interview with local radio “Blue,” Misael Suárez, the coordinator of the Zenú Indigenous Guard, said that the first day the stump was used to punish those who were not complying with the quarantine, at least a dozen people had their feet stuck for half an hour in a kind of “socialization”. The plan is to increase the time for the punishment.

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