Okaz/Saudi Gazette

DAMMAM — A man was arrested after a video of him forcing a toddler to smoke went viral.

The child’s father said the man in the video was his cousin.

“My cousin was trying to show my son cigarettes are harmful. My son had a habit of picking up cigarette butts from the floor and putting them in his mouth. We tried many times to prevent him from doing that but he never let go of his fixation. My cousin wanted my son to taste the cigarettes so that he would know how disgusting they are and would never approach them,” said the father.

He added that he was surprised at the furor created on social media and the way the activists reacted by describing the act as abusive.

“The reaction of the people was cruel toward my cousin and he is currently going through severe psychological trauma. Someone around him had taken the video and posted it on social media, and this has led to the upheaval,” said the father.

Eastern Province Police spokesman Col. Ziyad Al-Raqiti said police received reports from citizens of a man forcing a toddler to smoke. The police immediately arrested the man, who was in his 20s, and handed him over to the pertinent authorities, Al-Raqiti said.