Influencer dangles 6-week-old daughter by leg, says babies should be treated like monkeys after being arrested
A social media influencer was arrested after he shared a shocking video of him holding his infant daughter by one leg and dangling her in the air. When followers quizzed 35-year-old Igor Kravtasov from Moscow, Russia on the bone-chilling footage, he responded by saying he believed babies should be treated like monkeys. 27-year-old Darya Getmanskaya, Igor's wife and the girl's mother, has also been detained for ten days after she failed to intervene. Meanwhile, social services are planning to strip the couple of their parental rights, The Sun reported. The father is seen in horrific footage whistling while jolting the baby around by one leg for the camera. Childcare experts in the country were reportedly horrified as the juggling video went viral on social media.
According to them, gyrating the infant child upside down could result in severe damage including a broken neck. The father's supporters, meanwhile, have defended him saying his "stunt" was very similar to baby yoga or infant gymnastics. That said, the child is currently under observation in a Sochi hospital.
Although Kravtasov later admitted he had been "careless" with the child, he also appeared to justify his actions. “I have my own views on how to treat kids," he said. “If we look at little monkeys, they are very agile creatures."
“We are descended from monkeys, so we need to develop this activity in early childhood," he continued. “This helps the correct formation of bones. Ligaments and joints become more mobile.”
Watch the video here.
But Neonotaologist Vera Pushkareva warned that "in no case should a baby be shaken." “When a person shakes a child violently, the unsecured head dangles," she told Komsomolskaya Pravda. "Weak neck muscles are not yet able to work properly. In addition, in babies, the blood vessels are still imperfect. All this can provoke a hemorrhage.”
“Joints and bones in children are soft, and very violent shaking can lead to the displacement of the vertebrae or lead to other problems," she explained. “What the man did in the video is incomprehensible. He could have just broken her neck."
On the other hand, Russian columnist Zhanna Golubitskaya alleged that modern US and British childcare manuals recommended such exercises with babies.
According to The Sun, Kravtasov's video is part of a disturbing ongoing trend across Russia where parents dangle their babies in precarious positions for the camera. Activists have called for the parents' rights to be stripped and their children to be raised by someone else.
Last month, a video of a man spanking a young boy in public and then yelling at a young girl went viral on social media and sparked a furious debate about whether his actions constituted child abuse. The video in question was first posted on Twitter by a user with the handle @InkedRanjei and has since been viewed more than two million times. It has also been retweeted close to 18,000 times, with thousands offering their opinion on the touchy subject.
In the footage, a man, believed to be the children's grandfather, could be seen making the young boy lie on his stomach before spanking him repeatedly. He then forcefully picks the boy back up, walks to the young girl seated next to him, and points his finger at her as he says, "Sit your a** back down." The young girl could be briefly seen protesting before the video ends.