A now viral video of a man horrifically abusing a child (said to be his son), at a mall in Saudi Arabia has shocked people online.
The video began to circulate late on Monday, leading thousands to call on authorities to identify and arrest the man seen violently beating the child with a baby carriage.
The video on social media is quite graphic. Stepfeed chooses not to share it in line with our editorial code of ethics.
In the footage, the father is seen carrying a child who's crying hysterically.
Instead of trying to calm him down, the man throws the child to the ground and then beats him with a carriage.
He eventually picks the child up and walks ahead as if nothing had happened.
The Ministry of Labor's spokesperson responded
Amid intense online backlash and calls on authorities to take action, Saudi Arabia's spokesperson for the ministry of labor responded.
In statements he made via his official Twitter account, Khaled Abi Al Khail wrote:
"Anyone who harms, abuses or neglects the safety of a child, will have to face legal consequences."
"We are currently working on identifying and getting to the person who did this. We urge anyone who has information to come forward," he added.
Shock on social media
As the video continues to make the rounds online, thousands of people are sharing their thoughts on it on Twitter and other social media platforms.
Many noted that this type of abuse against children is widespread across the Arab world and explained that some parents believe they have the right to 'beat' their children in order to discipline them.
Others said that since the digital age has allowed for the documentation of such abuse, authorities must be strict in taking action against it.
A few defended the man though and thought that the reactions were blown out of proportion.
"First thing's first, I don't think this person is sane or normal"
"If he does this to the child in public, what does he do to him at home?"
Many attacked the child's mother for not trying to defend him
"It's not normal that his mother is seeing all this and chooses to walk on as if nothing's even happening."
Others then pointed this out
"Your point is valid, but read up about abused women and you'll understand her reaction... she's probably paralyzed with fear."
People were outraged at the man's actions
"Not in his house nor anywhere else, children aren't some type of property, they're human beings. If you don't know the difference between disciplining a child and violently abusing them, you should face the legal consequences of your actions."
However, many still defended him
"It's clear that this happened in a moment of anger. Don't blow things out of proportion. If he wanted to abuse the child he would've kept on beating him. I am not saying what he did was right but these reactions are just too much."
The majority were still not having any of it
"Anyone who's defending this man's actions should really go look for their humanity because it's clearly in danger. Even if someone once abused you in a similar way, it's no excuse to condone this. In fact, your experiences should make you want to prevent other people from going through the same thing."
"The amount of responses accepting this type of abuse give you an idea of how many children are abused in our society and how many will suffer the same in the future"
"There's no excuse for abusing children or women, not in public, not in private. If you've got anger issues figure things out and seek therapy"
In the wake of the incident, many are now circulating advice for parents
"How to help control your child's behavior without resorting to beating him/her."