A video of a Chinese woman locking a crying toddler in the toilet of an aeroplane has gone viral, sparking backlash.
The incident took place on the plane of a Chinese airline where a mother’s handling of a crying child sparked a debate online on how to manage children’s tantrums.
Gou Tingting posted a video of herself carrying a crying baby girl inside the toilet. The other woman in the video can be heard telling the child that she can leave the cubicle only if she ceases crying.
In her post, she said she was trying to help other passengers by locking the crying child.
While netizens accused her of lacking empathy and bullying the child, others defended her actions because of the child’s incessant crying.
The airline later said that the girl’s grandmother had given the two women permission to “educate her”.
Tingting also defended her actions as she posted that she does not prefer to be a bystander but wants to take action. “I just wanted to calm the child down and let everyone rest,” she said, further explaining that some passengers were forced to move to the back of the plane as the child continued crying. Meanwhile, some had to stuff tissues in their ears to block out the persistent crying of the girl, as per Tingting.
As per Chinese media, the toddler is one year old.
