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Comment by billfruit | Hacker News Reader

I feel that isn't really humane. The people found violating curfew could just be educated on why restriction is necessary and what their rights are in present situation, whom they can appeal to if they are not satisfied with the explanation.

Instead, they are subjected to humiliating corporal punishment. This can't be good advertisement for the country.

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I take it you've never been to India. In many parts criminal punishment is still dealt out by a mob literally beating the guilty party.

I've been to India, but I never had the "pleasure" of encountering anything like what you describe. Is that mob beating a kind of sentence (i.e. legally commissioned) or is it something one may face anywhere else with people taking justice in their own hands?

It's the later. Heck, if you crash into someone's car, police might not arrive at the place and the guy whoes new car got fucked, might destroy your face.

There's a huge difference between mob justice and a policy set by the state directly.

> The people found violating curfew could just be educated on why restriction is necessary and what their rights are in present situation, whom they can appeal to if they are not satisfied with the explanation.

Unfortunately, that's not likely to work in all parts of India. We cannot expect all first-world practices to work in developing countries.

I have a feeling this doesn’t work even in the developed countries. Sometimes people are just testing the boundaries of what they can really when a new system is brought in.

I recall seeing a thing about creating curfew laws for high school kids. Most kids on the street after school started were from poor neighborhoods and were on their way to school. They were just running late. Making it illegal for them to be there -- out on the street -- was just compounding their problems and creating additional barriers to getting to school.

A lot of rules get made with little understanding of the actual problems and circumstances of a lot of the people they are supposed to apply to.

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