Chinese women spark anger after locking crying toddler in plane toilet

Two women in China have been accused of child abuse after they separated a crying toddler from her grandmother and locked her in the toilet of a plane, on a domestic flight.

In a video uploaded by one of the women to social media, the girl can been seen wailing and trying to get out of the locked lavatory door. One of the women can be heard saying “if you stop crying, you can go out” and “if you stop crying, auntie will take you back to grandma”. Neither of the women are thought to be related to the child.

The incident took place on a 24 August flight from Guiyang, a city in south-west China, to Shanghai. Juneyao Airlines, which operated the flight, confirmed what happened and said the child had been taken to the toilet to be “educated” with her grandmother’s consent. The airline said it had since spoken to the child’s mother, who was not on the flight, and who “expressed her understanding” of the women’s behaviour.

The incident went viral on social media after one of the women, Gou Tingting, uploaded a video to Douyin, China’s version of TikTok.

The grandmother was reportedly waiting outside the restroom door.

Gou was initially proud of her intervention. “Many passengers were using tissues to block their ears,” she reportedly wrote. “Some had moved to the back of the plane to escape the noise.” But the video has since been deleted after a backlash online. Local media reports said the grandmother was not aware that the incident was being filmed.

One Weibo user wrote: “The grandmother and the two aunts should be sued, and social services should intervene. If there are parents like this, children will suffer in the future.”

Another wrote: “When will these people understand that babies have the right to cry and the right to travel, they are part of society, and so are babies!!!!!!!”

The incident has tapped into a debate in China about xiong haizi, or “bear children”, a slang term for unruly little ones who are seen as being spoilt or naughty.

It is not the first time that plane behaviour has caused a ruckus in China. Earlier this month, a domestic flight departing from Chongqing was delayed by one hour after a child complained that his economy class seat was too cramped, and was allowed by his mother to install himself in a first class seat, despite objections from flight attendants.

In 2015, three Chinese passengers were removed from a flight that was about to depart from Siem Reap in Cambodia to Chengdu in China, after a scuffle broke out. The argument was about someone’s seat being tipped too far back.