A father is receiving backlash for brutally beating his sons with a belt after they were caught stealing. The video was shared online, showing the enraged father thrashing his sons in public. The footage has captured the attention of more than 6 million viewers on the social media platform X.
In the 15-second-long footage, the father, wearing a red shirt, can be seen swinging a belt and striking a boy wearing a black shirt with grey and black shorts. The father repeatedly says, “Don’t steal,” while beating the boy.
They go around in a circle as he beats the boy, who eventually falls to the ground. The boy seemingly denies stealing money, and the man reaches for another boy, wearing a black shirt with red shorts, and starts striking him as well.
The second boy is visibly younger than the first, and his piercing cries can be heard when the belt slaps across his lower body. Much like his sibling, he tries to escape the belt, but with his father firmly holding his hand, he goes around in a circle and even swings in the air as his father tries to hold him upright. Other children can be seen in the clip, closely watching the father with his sons.
The footage has garnered criticism from viewers who called out the father’s disciplinary actions as abusive. However, some viewers defended the father, expressing that the father reprimanded them appropriately and they would learn not to repeat the offence.
One of the comments defending the father said, “Parenting at its finest. That child will never think about stealing again.” Another viewer who approved expressed that stealing is a “serious offence and needs to be solidified in their minds that it will not be tolerated when they leave home.”
Opposing this belief, multiple viewers shared that beating children would only make the child grow to resent their parents. Another critic expressed that other disciplinary measures, like timeouts and taking away privileges, could have been implemented rather than “violence.”
