The identical twin brother of a man who has denied feeding his baby vodka despite a video emerging has criticised his sibling’s ‘extremely bad decision’.
Footage appeared to show a baby in New Zealand being given a Long White, which is a vodka drink mixed with spring water, and was circulated on social media over the weekend.
The infant propped up on a while pillow beside a man while a woman with a One Love music festival wristband appeared to pour alcohol down the baby’s throat.
The child’s father has denied the child was given any alcohol in the video.
Mana Fifita, whose brother is allegedly in the video, has taken to social media on Tuesday to explain the footage is not of him.
‘I did not hear about or see this video until it was posted to the internet. When it was posted, my heart sank,’ the 35-year-old said.
Footage appeared to show a baby in New Zealand being given a Long White, which is a vodka drink mixed with spring water, and was circulated on social media over the weekend
A man, believed to be the one in the video, has hit back at the social media outrage over the clip of his child and denied his child was given alcohol
‘My twin made an extremely bad decision and I am disappointed in his actions.’
Mr Fifita said he was living in Christchurch with his two daughters, aged seven and nine, and would never give up his time with them.
‘While I understand everyone’s outrage, please realise I am a twin and this was my twin’s actions, not mine,’ he said.
‘I do not find any humour in this, nor would I ever joke about feeding alcohol to a child.’
The tattoo artist said his business that he built from the ground up has also been impacted by his brother’s alleged actions.
Mana Fifita (pictured), who’s brother is allegedly in the video, has taken to social media on Tuesday to explain the footage is not of him
‘Please do not leave anymore negativity on my business accounts or my personal one as I do not have anything to do with this,’ he said.
‘I too am disappointed and hope he can make better decisions in the future.’
He told the New Zealand Herald he called his brother when he saw the footage, who said two of his friends pretended to feed the baby alcohol in the video.
Mr Fifita even had detectives arrive at his door to take a statement and were shocked to find out they had the wrong twin.
The tattoo artist (pictured with his daughters) said his business that he built from the ground up has also been impacted by his brother’s actions
New Zealand Police’s Detective Senior Sergeant Eddie Sutherland confirmed on Tuesday an investigation had been opened in regards to the footage.
‘We understand that members of our community found this video extremely concerning and we want to assure them that we will work closely with Oranga Tamariki on addressing this matter,’ he said.
‘We are not in a position to comment further at this time.’
Footage showed the infant propped up on a while pillow beside a man while a woman with a One Love wrist band pour alcohol down the baby’s throat.
Daily Mail Australia does not suggest the infant actually consumed any alcohol. The video clip has since been deleted.
Mr Fifita’s brother hit back at the social media outrage over the clip on Monday.
‘I’m being threatened over a Facebook post [because] of the video about my baby,’ the man wrote, according to the New Zealand Herald.
‘Me and my wife and a couple of my mates were there and we [were] just joking around [with] her.’
He said he would be an ‘idiot’ if he actually let his child consume the alcohol and that his child are ‘his heart’.
A second image, believed to be of the same man, showed a picture of a man holding a beer up to a baby’s mouth at a bar with the caption ‘her first Xmas eve and beer’.
Authorities in New Zealand said they were distressed about the video.
Authorities in New Zealand are distressed regarding the contents of the video
Dr Harriette Carr, Deputy Director of Public Health, said the Ministry of Health were ‘appalled’ at the footage.
‘The Ministry does not recommend babies or children be given alcoholic drinks,’ Dr Carr said.
‘Alcohol has been shown to be harmful for the unborn child, babies and children, particularly affecting brain development.’
Meanwhile Oranga Tamariki, also known as the Ministry of Children, said the department is taking the incident seriously.
‘We are aware of a video that has been circulating on social media, and will work with police as necessary,’ a spokesperson said.