A national body of women belonging to various Christian denominations has expressed shock and outrage over the spraying of disinfectant on migrant laborers.

“Even as the whole country is battling an intense and grueling confrontation with the Corona crisis, we the members of want to express our deep shock and horror at the treatment being meted out to hapless migrant workers who were today,” says a March 30 statement from the Indian Christian Women’s Movement.

Footage on the same day showed a group of migrant workers sitting on a street in Bareilly, a district in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, as health officials in protective suits used hosepipes to douse them in disinfectant, prompting anger on social media.