Your kid is not a toy: Shaniera Akram calls out Feroze Khan for endangering daughter's life

Amid fighting a case for child custody in court, actor Feroze Khan was called out for risking his daughter's safety while on the road back from the hearing. Actor and activist Shaniera Akram, who has always been a staunch advocate for children’s road safety, posted a screenshot of him driving with a kid in his lap to reiterate how such an act can be fatal for kids

The Money Back Guarantee actor went on to detail how such gestures of love can be fatal. “If your child is on your lap in the front seat and another car hits you, even if it's only going 30km or less, your child will fling from your arms, hit the dashboard, windscreen or even worse,” she added. “If your child survives, chances are that they would’ve hit their head so hard, they’ll have a brain injury for life. Why would anyone ever risk that?”

Appalled at how people continue to ignore road safety measures despite several reminders, Shaniera urged everyone to not be “idiots” and treat their kids as human beings and not “toys.” She further stressed that this isn’t even rocket science. “It’s common sense!” she maintained and we concur. “Put your seatbelts on and seat your kids in the back,” she demanded.

The activist further added that she’s not against any celebrity or influencers posting about their life, but it does boil her blood when they ignore the responsibility they have and go on to endorse certain dangerous acts. “If you’re in the public eye, you’ve a responsibility to the public. Your actions influence your fans.”

While Shaniera doesn’t enjoy naming and shaming, she stated that she feels morally obligated to raise her voice when people’s lives are at risk. For those who argue that they’re being careful and it’s all a little family fun on empty streets, she clarified that not just accidents but even tiny bumps can be fatal for the kids, especially with new cars — and we all know the condition of roads in Pakistan.

As sad as it is, this isn’t the first time Shaniera has had to educate a celeb, let alone people, on road safety. Earlier in 2021, she made headlines after chastising celebrity couple Minal Khan and Ahsan Mohsin Ikram for not taking road safety measures seriously when driving around with their niece Amal Muneeb, daughter of Aiman Khan and Muneeb Butt.

Earlier this year, she shared why she cares so deeply about road safety. It comes from all the stories she heard growing up from her father, a police officer, who would often attend to horrific road accidents involving children riding without seatbelts. “He said in almost every instance, the car carrying the children was not at fault and was always driving at a low speed,” she shared, adding that such actions were “blood chilling”.

The activist continued, “The worst accidents were the ones with small children. On impact, the child was almost always flung from the backseat, through the windshield and out onto the road,” adding in a separate story, “No parent should ever scream in regret because they could have protected their child but chose not to."

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.