A photograph taken by the Peruvian National Police, in which Torres is seen lying in the coffin, has since gone viral on social media.

The mayor of a small town in Peru has been arrested after he was found lying in a coffin, pretending to be the corpse of a COVID-19 victim, to avoid being punished for flouting lockdown rules, the NZ Herald reported.

The mayor of a Peruvian town called Tantara, Jaime Rolando Urbina Torres, was allegedly drinking with friends in violation of Peru’s strict lockdown measures. When the police arrived at the scene, Torres reportedly climbed into an open casket lying nearby, and played dead.

Jaime Rolando “El Cholo” Urbina Torres, alcalde de Tantará en Huancavelica (Perú), envalentonado por el alcohol, violó es aislamiento social por la pandemia y fingió estar muerto para no ser arrestado por la Policía. 😡🇵🇪🥃🍷 pic.twitter.com/Ur7coPDdhA

— Carlos Alberto Cardozo Cardozo (@Cabezaborrador) May 21, 2020

A photograph taken by the Peruvian National Police, in which Torres is seen lying still in the coffin while wearing a face mask, has since gone viral on social media. Following his arrest, Torres was found to be intoxicated, reports suggested.

The mayor has faced criticism from locals for not taking social distancing and lockdown seriously. A strict lockdown was imposed in Tantara along with the rest of Peru over 66 days ago, as per reports.

Last week, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that South America had become an ‘epicentre’ of the global pandemic. With over 129,751 positive coronavirus cases and 3,788 deaths, Peru is the second-hardest hit country in Latin America, after Brazil, according to data released by Johns Hopkins University.