Malaysian man dives into sea to escape arrest for ignoring lockdown orders

It's been 13 days since Malaysia went into lockdown, with another 15 days to go.

Despite repeated warnings that unnecessarily leaving their homes would result in arrests, it still wasn't enough to deter some Malaysians.

One man in Penang went so far as to dive into the sea just to escape arrest when he was caught loitering with friends, reported Bernama.

The man, who's in his 20s, had been chatting with several friends inside a fishing lodge at a jetty on March 28 afternoon.

When the police asked him to head home, he jumped into the sea and swam about 50 metres away. He also refused to return ashore despite police persuasion. 

Worried that he would swim further out to sea and potentially endanger himself, the police decided to stop persuading him and arrested 13 of his friends instead.

[embed]https://twitter.com/KKMPutrajaya/status/1244021927347273729[/embed]

According to one of the man's friends, he was mentally challenged and had likely escaped as he was scared. The man later swam back to shore, reported The Star. 

Authorities have warned the public to be prepared for stricter regulations which "will be more stringent than what is in place now."

The lockdown took effect on March 18 after a spike in Covid-19 cases in Malaysia, and was later extended for two more weeks until April 14. As of today (March 30), Malaysia has over 2,000 confirmed cases, of which 35 have died.

ALSO READ: Nabbed: Trio who tried to flee from cops in Johor

For the latest updates on the coronavirus, visit here.

rainercheung@asiaone.com