An intensive care nurse at New Delhi’s St Stephen’s hospital was coming home from a day shift last week, when police stopped her at the border of Gurgaon, the suburb where she lives. Haryana state had abruptly sealed its border with Delhi, and no one could enter, no matter where they were coming from or going to.

With a seven-month-old breast-feeding baby at home, the young nurse was distraught. She pleaded with police, showed her hospital ID and made multiple phone calls to her superiors at work for help. Finally she was allowed to go home, but has not returned to work since. 

Her ordeal is not unusual. As its coronavirus caseload has risen, India has fractured. States, districts and even upmarket residential areas bar entry to outsiders they fear could be infected. The arbitrary restrictions have disrupted both the provision of, and access to, healthcare services. Yet lawyers argue the controls — enforced by police at the instruction of state or local officials — lack strong legal basis, and violate the right to free movement enshrined in India’s constitution.