Two parents have been accused of tattooing their one-year-old child in a sickening video shared to social media.
The horrifying clip, which had been shared on TikTok by a Russian couple, showed a young child screaming as his arm was held down in a tattoo parlour while a woman appeared to ink the phrase 'Mellstroy-Game' onto the youngster's arm.
Mellstroy is the username of Moscow-based streamer Andrey Burim, who recently offered to buy his followers flats in exchange for themselves posting bizarre social media videos tagged with his name.
According to the original clip, the parents of the young child decided to take part in the competition as they couldn't afford to buy their own home and were struggling with debts.
Advert
"We've decided to take part in this competition," the child's mother said in the viral clip.
"We didn't know how to surprise you, Mellstroy, so we've decided to get a tattoo for our one-year-old child.
"We've been living in rented accommodation for three years now and can't afford to buy a flat.
She continued: "We're up to our ears in debt. We'd love to win this competition."
Advert
It's not clear whether or not the writing was a real tattoo or written on in permanent marker, however the video has caused outrage in Russia.
The country's internet monitor, Ekaterina Mizulina, has now urged a criminal investigation to be opened into the case and slammed Mellstroy for promoting potentially dangerous trends online.
"The bottom has been reached,” she said.
"A family tattooed their one-year-old child to participate in a competition advertising a casino.
Advert
"The tattoo may not be real, but the baby is crying throughout the entire video.
"We will forward the materials to the Investigative Committee."
She went on to call Mellstroy a 'hooligan', adding that she'd seen videos of young people destroying property and even setting themselves on fire in an attempt to get the streamer's attention.
"It's only going to get worse—the videos are becoming more brutal and absurd with each passing day," she added.
Meanwhile the child's parents, who've not been named in the media, have broken their silence on the clip, now claiming the tattoo to have been fake.
Advert
"We didn’t tattoo the child. We pretended to do it," the boy's mother told Russian outlet Izvestia.
She continued: "I didn’t think people would believe it, because it was a one-year-old, not 18 or 20.
"The inscription was written with a black gel pen. We didn’t use a tattoo machine, and we removed the needles from the cartridge."
Meanwhile Mellstroy has also addressed the incident, saying he would not accept videos including children in his competitions.
Advert
"I would like to ask you not to use young children in the challenge, as it looks ridiculous, to say the least, and is absolutely morally wrong," he said (via The Sun).
Topics: Social Media, TikTok, Russia
Brenna Cooper