A troubling video has been making rounds all over the Internet this week. The short clip, posted by a Malaysian adventure company, shows a dad performing a dangerous bungee jumping stunt with his young toddler clutched tightly in his arms. Needless to say, the video has pissed off countless people who believe the dad put his little girl's life in danger just for a quick thrill.
In the video, Malaysian reality star Redha Rozlan is standing on a bridge, attached to a bungee cord, with his toddler in his arms.
The little girl, who was identified by news.com.au as 2-year-old Mecca Mikaela, doesn't necessarily seem distressed. Still, Rozlan can be seen patting his daughter's back in comfort as the instructor begins the "Three … Two … One" countdown.
Then, the father and daughter are forcefully pulled backwards off the bridge.
The toddler, who only seems to be clad in a waist harness but no helmet or other protective gear, tightly clutches onto her father's neck as they fall the reported 60 meters — almost 197 feet — downward.
The dad and daughter duo swing back and forth on the bungee cord, and while the dad lets out plenty of excited yells and screams, the little girl is eerily quiet. It's actually really hard to watch.
Obviously, the video has drawn plenty of backlash.
After getting bombarded with concerned comments from Malaysian fans, Rozlan took to his popular Instagram account to defend himself. "Chill, guys," he wrote in his post. "Don't try [this] with your kids if your kids [are] not ready for this."
The father also said that Mecca Mikaela wasn't coerced or persuaded into bungee jumping with him and that after they finished their first stunt, she wanted to do it again.
But his defense of his actions hasn't stopped parents from dragging him for putting his daughter's life in danger.
In addition to raising concerns about her physical safety, some are worried about the emotional toll the bungee jumping could have on her.
Others jumped on Rentas Adventures for allowing Rozlan to bungee jump with a child in the first place.
But according to the adventure company's Instagram account, this isn't the first time they've allowed something like this to happen.
Only about a day before Redha Rozlan's video was posted, another showed a child bungee jumping while strapped to his dad's back. Once again, the kid wasn't wearing a helmet.
Of course, there were a few people who came to the dad's defense.
Most argued that bungee jumping is somehow the same as allowing our kids on roller coasters and amusement park rides.
Child rights lawyers, however, don't agree. Free Malaysia Today spoke with attorney Goh Siu Lin, who said that Redha Rozlan showed a lack of parental judgment when he decided to bungee jump with his daughter.
The publication also spoke with human rights lawyer Andrew Khoo, who claimed that both Rozlan and Rentas Adventures could face legal action for "putting the child in a dangerous situation that may cause physical or emotional injury to them."
Goh Siu Lin also took the time to press the severity of allowing a toddler to bungee jump. "[Bungee jumping] is an extreme sport and dangerous, and there is a high likelihood of the motions in such an activity causing physical injury to her," she said. "I have never heard of any child of that age being allowed to participate in such an extreme sport."
