A parenting influencer in Russia posted a video of putting her son into a vacuum storage bag and sucking out the air, and is now under police investigation.
According to local media including Russia's RIA Novosti on the 11th, influencer Anna Safarina recently posted on her social media (SNS) a video of putting her 10-year-old son, Stas, into a vacuum plastic bag.
In the video, Safarina laid her son in a vacuum storage bag spread out on the floor at home. She then placed a vacuum cleaner hose on the bag's valve and sucked out the air.
The vacuum storage bag quickly began to cling to the boy's face, and he let out a panicked scream, shouting "Mom!" as if he were suffocating.
Safarina said she filmed the video to stave off boredom while her son stayed home sick, but the video immediately sparked a child abuse controversy.
Russian state media also criticized it as "playing a dangerous prank with a child for fun," and broadcaster NTV said "many an internet user immediately demanded an investigation into the family."
Indeed, police in Russia's Saratov region reportedly confirmed the video of Safarina putting her son into a vacuum storage bag and sucking out the air, and opened an investigation.
Police told RIA Novosti and others that it was "a video that may involve an illegal act against her minor son," and said they were tracking Safarina's whereabouts to determine the circumstances.
Meanwhile, Safarina deleted the video after news of the investigation was posted on the regional police's Telegram channel.