Women share video of disciplining toddler in airplane toilet, China’s social media erupts in fury

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - Crying children on planes can be an irritant but a viral video of women 'disciplining' a toddler on a plane has sparked outrage in China. — Illustration pic via Pexels

BEIJING, Aug 30 — A woman shared a video of herself and another woman disciplining a crying toddler on a plane by locking her up in the lavatory.

The kicker is the woman, Gou Tingting, wasn’t even related to the little girl. She and her companion (unnamed) had taken her from her grandparents, with their permission, to “set some rules.”

Sixth Tone reported that in the Douyin video that went viral on China social media, the threats made to the toddler can audibly be heard, including one where one of the women told the little girl they would leave her alone if she kept making noise.

Gou had proudly declared her actions as being one of a Good Samaritan, helping her fellow passengers deal with a misbehaving child.

Instead, she was met with furious condemnation with some commenters saying they would report her to the police and apparently did so, as they posted screenshots of said reports in their comments.

The flight was a domestic one from the city of Guiyang to Shanghai, on August 24 on Juneyao Airlines.

It is likely that Guo was trying to follow a current Douyin trend that demonstrated tips on dealing with unruly children but she did not expect the backlash.

She has since taken down the video, with no further updates since then.