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A Malaysian man who was seen on video putting a vape device in a baby's mouth twice has been arrested.

His arrest on Aug. 8 came after widespread outrage calling out the man's actions, Malay Mail reported.

The Johor police said in a statement that its criminal investigation unit arrested the 23-year-old man, a businessman, at 12.45pm on Monday.

A report was lodged by the baby's mother on Saturday, Aug. 6 just before 3pm.

Johor Bahru North district police chief Rupiah Abd Wahid said the suspect is the friend of the younger sister of the baby's mother, Free Malaysia Today reported.

What happened

The seven-month-old baby was with the three adults at a restaurant when the device was allegedly placed in the baby's mouth by the suspect.

The police added that the vape device was non-functioning at that time, and the intention of the act was as a joke.

The scene was recorded and uploaded to Instagram by the complainant's sister.

The video was widely circulated and sparked outrage.

The police said the case will be investigated under Section 31(1)(a) of the Child Act 2001.

If found guilty, the suspect could be sentenced to jail for up to 20 years, a fine of RM50,000 (S$15,449), or both.

"The public is advised to not spread misinformation or make irresponsible claims on social media to avoid nuisance," the police added.

More background

The 15-second video that circulated online was a screen recording of an Instagram Story, Says reported.

A man could be seen feeding a baby a vape device twice.

The incident reportedly occurred in Bandar Baru Uda, Johor Bahru.

In the first instance, a woman could be heard off-camera saying: "This will break records."

Another woman was heard off-camera trying to stop the man.

The other woman then laughed it off before the man put the vape device into the baby's mouth again.

At least one person who saw the video online reported the matter to the Social Welfare Department (JKM) in Malaysia.

Man claimed he is not the baby's father

Following the backlash, the man who allegedly gave the vape to the baby apologised online.

He posted an Instagram Story on Aug. 6, the day of the incident, and admitted he had fed the baby a vape device, but explained that it was no longer working and that the baby has always been playing with it.

He also said he has gone to the police station to give his side of the story and also clarified that he is not the baby's father.

However, his admission only made things worse as online commenters said he appeared to have been harming someone else's baby.

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