This is the moment two women locked a crying girl in an airplane toilet to “educate” her after angry passengers reportedly covered their ears with tissues to drown out her screams.
Footage shows the girl crying and screaming to be let out of the small plane’s toilet on the Juneyao Airlines flight from Guiyang to Shanghai on August 24, as women look on.
The girl had reportedly been crying non-stop during the flight and people on board said she was so loud that some passengers had put tissues in their ears to block out the noise.
Passengers complained that the girl’s grandparents seemed to have no idea how to stop her from crying and attempts to distract her with a mobile phone proved unsuccessful.
One of the two women, Gou Tingting, posted a video on Chinese social media of herself carrying the child to the toilet. In a comment justifying her action, she wrote: “I just wanted to educate the child and let everyone have a good rest.”
The images show the girl crying and screaming in the small cubicle as the women look on.
The girl had reportedly been crying non-stop during the flight and people on board said she was crying so loudly that some passengers had put tissues in their ears to block out the noise.
Passengers complained that the girl’s grandparents seemed to have no idea how to stop her from crying and attempts to distract her with a mobile phone proved unsuccessful.
Gou added that some passengers tried to move to empty seats further away to escape the boy’s screams.
The girl’s grandmother had allegedly given permission to Gou and the other woman to intervene and take the girl away from her grandmother.
Once in the bathroom, the girl continued to cry and scream for her grandmother, but eventually stopped after the women told her that she would only be able to see her grandmother when she stopped crying.
The girl was also told that only when she was silent for three minutes would she be allowed to leave the bathroom.
The girl reportedly remained silent for the remaining two hours of the flight.
When the plane landed, the police were apparently involved, but they reportedly only lectured the grandmother about her role in what happened and said nothing to the two women who locked the boy in the plane’s bathroom.
Chinese media say the girl is one year old, but authorities have not confirmed this.
Police said they believe the grandmother, who was taking the girl to Shanghai to reunite her with her father, was grateful for the interference from Gou and the other woman, as the girl was unresponsive to anything other than her attempts to stop crying.
The video of the incident sparked an online debate about how to treat children in public spaces, with many criticising the women’s actions.
A statement released by Juneyao Airlines’ customer service said they were aware of the incident: “We have also received the notification and are investigating internally.
One of the two women, Gou Tingting, posted a video on Chinese social media of herself carrying the child to the toilet. In a comment justifying her action, she wrote: “I just wanted to educate the child and let everyone have a good rest.”
The women kept the girl locked in the bathroom stall until she stopped crying.
‘Whether a stranger takes a child is also an individual decision and we are not making a judgment about that.
‘The flight attendant cannot be in the cabin all the time. When the child cries, we can try to remind the guardians to do everything possible to calm him down, but if the child continues to cry, the flight attendant cannot do much.
‘And if during the time when the flight attendant is away, someone decides to act as an individual and take the child, we accept that this is an emergency situation.
“If the flight attendant had noticed, she would have helped the parent or guardian sort out the problem. But the child’s family could also have asked strangers or reported the incident to the police.”
Police confirmed that they were aware of the incident through online comments and were in the process of handing the matter over to the relevant departments.
(tags to translate)dailymail