If there are two things that should never, ever mix, it’s toddlers and loaded guns. However one father actually encouraged that dangerous situation as he taught his son how to load a revolver.
A shocking viral video shows the dad, identified as high school trustee Adarsh Upadhyay, handing bullets to his young son who slotted them into the chamber of the weapon.
The father then closed the chamber and allowed the toddler to take the gun and hold it scarily close to his face, with his thumb hovering close to the trigger and the barrel pointing towards himself.
Watch the worrying video here:
The toddler is said to be just 18 months old; he likely just thought the dangerous gun was a toy for him to play with.
It’s not clear who filmed the video but it was reportedly taken when Upadhyay was on holiday with his family at the Nainital hill station in the northern Indian state of Uttarakhand.
The video was shared on social media where naturally it gained a lot of backlash from people criticising the father for his irresponsible actions. According to mid-day.com, Titwala police began investigating the incident after being made aware of the video.
The authorities said the father is a resident of Titwala and is a trustee of the Greater Valley School there.
After coming under fire for the scene, Upadhyay shared another video apologising for the incident and admitting no one should behave so recklessly.
He said:
I have done a wrong thing. I didn’t understand the gravity of the act. I made a mistake, I know no one should behave like this with their child or teach them any such thing. I am sorry.
The Mumbai Mirror reports he admitted to giving the gun to his child because the youngster was crying. He claimed the weapon had been locked but even so it was a ridiculously dangerous decision which could have caused a fatal accident if the toddler had somehow managed to turn the safety off.
Titwala police inspector Balaji Pandhare commented:
Upadhyay is a trustee of this school for the past four years. He has been living here for the past 10 years and has now apologised for his act.
He explained that he had been trying to calm his crying child and hence gave him his gun to hold. The gun does not belong to the man, but to one of his family members. We have warned him of strict action if he repeats the act.
A child should never be allowed to play with a gun – whether the safety is on or not. It’s simply not worth the risk.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.