Several YouTube videos shot by an 11-year-old girl in Jaipur, including one that showed her playing with a syringe, have highlighted the impact of social media on children and drawn strong remarks from the Rajasthan High Court. Calling her grandparents negligent, the court transferred her and her younger brother’s custody to their mother.
After seeing the YouTube videos, a bench of Justice Pankaj Bhandari flagged “serious negligence” and said the grandparents were “irresponsible in (their) upbringing”.
The girl and her seven-year-old brother stayed with their paternal grandparents since their father died a year ago. Her YouTube account has about 130 videos, including one that showed her with a syringe.
The lawyer representing her mother showed the videos to the court and claimed her paternal grandparents were old and not able to care for her. She claimed they were not aware of her health and that she ate junk food.
Her grandfather said they were not aware that she made such videos and they would challenge the court decision in the Supreme Court. He also alleged that her maternal grandmother had control over her YouTube channel and had distanced them from their grandchildren by making baseless allegations.
He also said the videos were shot before she lost her father.
