Man tries to return to prison after he was beaten by neighbors days after Argentine government put him on house arrest as part of a measure to contain COVID-19 in penitentiaries (5 Pics)

A man who was sent home to serve the rest of his kidnapping sentence as the Argentine government seeks to contain the spread of the coronavirus in prisons decided to walk back to the jail after he was beaten by his neighbors.  

At least a dozen men chased Pablo Sommaruga throughout a neighborhood street in the Chubut municipality of Esquel on Wednesday.

Video recorded by a bystander showed Sommaruga being kicked and punched while he was on the ground as several police officers attempted to stop the vigilantes.

In a separate video, he is seen running away from his attackers, including one who hurled a round object at him.

Pablo Sommaruga was recently placed under house arrest by the Argentine government as part of an ongoing measure to contain the coronavirus, but while walking to his home Wednesday in the Chubut town of Esquel, a group of neighbors beat him down

Pablo Sommaruga (second from the right, lying on the ground) was punched and kicked by neighbors in Esquel, a city in the Argentine province of Chubut on Wednesday. 

Sommaruga suffered a non-life threatening head wound during the beating and then demanded authorities in the town of Badén return him to the Federal Penitentiary System's Unit 14 prison complex.

Since nobody obliged, Sommaruga, whose wife is expecting the birth of the couple's first child next week, decided to walk back by himself, although he hasn't been confined again. His wife experienced contractions and had to be hospitalized.

The beating allegedly took place after rumors surfaced on social media that linked him to a rape, which he denied.

'I understand people, the situation got out of hand but they used social networks to say that it was for something else,' Sommaruga told Argentine news outlet ADN Sur. 'I was given house arrest for good behavior, I'm doing things right, I don't know why they are so cruel to me.' 

Pablo Sommaruga suffered a head wound as a result of the beating and tried to return to the local prison from where he had been recently released. He was sentenced to 16 years for his role in the October 2002 kidnapping of a local businessman's son and was slated to be released from jail June 4 before he was awarded early release

Pablo Sommaruga (pictured second from the right) tries to run away from his attackers as local cops attempt to keep them at bay

Pablo Sommaruga was one of six suspects who were found guilty and sentenced to as many as 22 years in prison for the October 16, 2002 of Ariel Strajman, who had one of his fingers cut off.

Sommaruga had been placed in a special program six months ago, permitting him to leave and return to the prison.

'The idea was to live here. I would be free June 4,' he said. 'I made mistakes and paid for them. I understand the pain and the things they are experiencing, but they were wrong. I hope they reflect and don't commit a crime so as not to end up like me.'

Sommaruga was one of six suspects who were found guilty and sentenced to as many as 22 years in prison for the October 16, 2002 kidnapping of Ariel Strajman, then 29, who had one of his fingers cut off. 

He and his associates had held Strajman for ransom and collected some jewelry and about $1,000. Authorities have said Strajman was burned with cigarettes and abused for his Jewish faith while he was being held. 

Sommaruga received a 16-year sentence in May 2006. He was scheduled to be released in June but was selected for home confinement as part of Argentina's plan to prevent the massive outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic throughout the overpopulated prisons.

As of Thursday, 1,700 inmates had been transferred to house arrest from penitentiaries in the province of Buenos Aires along with an additional 320 prisoners from the Federal Penitentiary System's 35 facilities located across the nation.

Argentina has reported 124 deaths, including two prisoners, and 4,285 sickened patients due to the coronavirus pandemic.