A 32-year-old man from West Bengal has died after allegedly being beaten by police while out shopping for milk during the coronavirus curfew.

There are numerous other reports from across India of police wrongly using force against shoppers out purchasing supplies like groceries or medicine.

During an address to the nation on Tuesday evening, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a three-week total lockdown would be implemented across the entire country.

However, he did specify that Indians would be permitted to leave their homes to purchase groceries and medicines, as long as they adhered to ‘social distancing’.

The victim, who is from the city of Howrah, had left his home on Wednesday to buy milk but was charged by police brandishing wooden sticks, known as lathi.

The beating caused him to suffer a cardiac arrest and he died shortly afterwards. Police in Howrah have denied the charge.

In New Delhi, footage posted on social media showed police smashing up the interior of a meat shop and beating residents out shopping for groceries.

“Some homes that I work in paid me some money and I thought it was best to get some food in the house,” Alok Barman, a servant in several south New Delhi households, told Associated Press.

“But the police attacked us with sticks and beat us, now we have nothing to eat.”