A short video of a Saudi Arabian man forcing a toddler to smoke a cigarette went viral on social media, prompting his arrest.
In the clip, a man with a three-year-old sitting on his lap put a lit cigarette into the child’s mouth; the baby starts coughing from the smoke prompting the man to laugh.
As the video reached viral heights and spread around the world, the Attorney-General of Saudi Arabia ordered an investigation and the man’s arrest.
The man is reported to be in his 20s and an older cousin of the boy’s father and now faces lengthy jail time.
The father of the child told reporters the young boy had a habit of picking up used cigarette stubs and putting them in his mouth, and his cousin was merely teaching the boy a lesson – showing the three-year-old how bad cigarettes tasted in a bid to get him to stop this behaviour.
In the 2015 an 18-year-old from Spain faced backlash when she posted a picture of her one-year-old smoking online.
A Spanish paediatrician spoke out about the picture, telling The Local it was child abuse.
“Tobacco is intrinsically even worse than heroin and to give it to a baby whose lungs are still developing,” said Antonio Nieto, “Even children who are exposed to passive smoking are more likely to develop lung conditions such as asthma or chronic bronchitis.”
“I think the police would definitely consider it to be child abuse. It is just absolutely unbelievable.”
