A shocking incident occurred in France church, where a footage of a priest slapping a crying baby during baptism has made its way around the internet, sparking outrage among social media users. The YouTube video that was initially shared on Reddit with the caption, “A priest slaps an infant during his baptism.” The exact location of the church and the date of the incident are unclear, although the video surfaced on the internet on Wednesday.

In a 40-second clip posted online, the French-speaking priest is seen to lash out in frustration during the ceremony as the tiny child is held by a woman though to be his mother. He appeared to comfort the child and in the middle of the video, is shown slapping the child across his cheek.

Watch Video of Priest Slapping a Baby During Baptism

“I’m going to put water on the forehead, and after I’ll embrace the little man, because he will become a little Christian,” the elderly priest says in the footage. However, he soon becomes annoyed with the boy who will not stop crying, grabbing him by his face, raising his voice and telling the infant, ‘Stop crying, calm down. Calm down.’ He then unleashes a sharp slap against the baby’s cheek, shocking those in the church, who can be heard to gasp.

The man standing next to the woman holding the baby, steps in and tries to remove him from the situation – only for the priest to grip the boy by his neck. The mother pleads with the priest to let go, but he continues to grip the boy by the head. The father then wrestles the baby away and into his arms, as another woman attending the service also intervenes in a bid to calm the tension when the video cuts out. The YouTube video has amassed more than 187,000 times and thousands more on Facebook and Twitter.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 22, 2018 10:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).