Malaysian cops let a mom off with a wrist slap when she chained her daughter to a lamppost — explaining that it was only the “first time” the child was publicly shackled.
The mom locked her 8-year-old in a misguided attempt to teach her a lesson for playing hooky, according to reports.
The mortified child was left in tears, sucking her thumb, as she stood shackled to the metal post outside the family’s apartment in Kuala Lumpur.
Passers-by were unable to free the poor girl, who remained stuck for more than an hour until cops arrived.
She told them that her 30-year-old mom would be back shortly after she chained her as punishment for skipping school.
”There is such a thing as tough love but this is taking it too far,” an onlooker said, the Mirror of the UK reported.
”The girl was quite clearly upset and didn’t know what to do. She was sucking her thumb and had tears in her eyes,” he said. ”We reported it to police and we hope that they look into the family further to make sure that the girl is not harmed again.”
When the mother returned 10 minutes later, she released the child and was taken to a nearby police station for questioning.
‘We established that it was the first time the girl was chained,” Assistant Police Commissioner Mohammad Azlin Sadari said, The Daily Mail reported. “It was decided to let the mother go home with her daughter, warning her not to do it again.”