Authorities Detain Parents of Kids Seen Playing on a Balcony Ledge without Railings

Police detain parents of 2 children spotted playing on the ledge of a condominium's balcony, and the said balcony has no protective railings.

A 10-second video of 2 kids that seems to be a young female teen and a toddler playing outside the window of their condo unit in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, and in their balcony ledge that has no railings had since gone viral.

Worried and frightened neighbors in the condominium located at Taman Setapak can be heard frantically begging and persuading the children to calmly sit down, be still, and remain where they were.

Parents were home yet unaware

Ashari Abu Samah, Wangsa Maju district police officer, stated that initial investigations by the Kuala Lumpur police's sexual, women, and child investigation division revealed that the kids' parents were actually at home during the time of incident, and were unaware that their kids were already outside in their home's balcony.

Currently, the said parents are allegedly under the custody of the authorities.

The district police officer further stated that the unfortunate event is being investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001 of Malaysia, which deals with child neglect, abandonment, or exposure that will likely cause the child to have physical or emotional injury, Free Malaysia Today reported.

If found guilty, the parents will be fined up to RM20,000 and/or jailed for a maximum of 10 years.

Ashari ended his statement to the public reminding parents to never leave their children unsupervised.

Read Also: Mom Berates Husband on Youtube Livestream After He Forgot to Feed and Change Baby for Four Hours

Child on balcony incidents are rising

In the first week of the month, a similar incident happened in the residential complexes of Central Station commune of Santiago de Chile, South America.

The internet public was outraged when a video of a kid not more than 4 years old was seen playing on the balcony ledge of a building's 21st floor without adult supervision has gone viral on October 6.

In the video, the kid was seen going out of the window, towards the balcony, and decided to climb the railings. He then grabbed the curtain in the window that for a few seconds, it seems that his only support were his legs. A few moments later, his caretaker arrived at the scene and grabbed the kid back to safety.

The video, same as the one in Malaysia, was taken by one of the neighbors who repeatedly shouted for the boy to go inside while waiting for his caregiver or any security to arrive.

According to the reports, the child was in the care of a nursery that operates in the building. The caregiver also stated that there was a "security mesh" that was put in place to prevent accidents in the balcony from happening.

Despite it was hard to see if a security mesh was really in place, the authorities of the Central Station commune announced after inspection, that there was a transparent protective mesh, which protected the little boy from falling.

No charges were reported against the nursery or the caregiver. Police only issued a statement reminding parents to be attentive of their children.

Related Article: North Kentucky Daycare Employee Faces Child Abuse Charges