In parts of Africa, police are accused of excess force amid coronavirus lockdowns

FILE PHOTO: A soldier and a member of the South African police service search a house as they enforce a 21-day nationwide lockdown aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus in Eldorado Park, South Africa, March 30, 2020. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo

KINSHASA/NAIROBI (Reuters) - Days after Congo announced emergency restrictions to curb the new coronavirus, a police video started circulating online showing an officer in the capital beating a taxi driver for violating a one-passenger limit.

The driver pleads with officers as they order him to lie face down on the road. But the punishment is meted out anyway: a sharp truncheon blow to the calves that leaves him writhing in pain.