Can it be True? Indonesian Toddler Puffs 2 Packs of Cigs Daily

Published August 15th, 2018 - 12:30 GMT
Two-year-old Rapi Ananda Pamungkas, from Sukabumi, Indonesia, (pictured) puffs through 40 cigarettes a day. (Social Media)
Two-year-old Rapi Ananda Pamungkas, from Sukabumi, Indonesia, (pictured) puffs through 40 cigarettes a day. (Social Media)

This toddler has developed a chain-smoking habit that sees him puff through 40 cigarettes a day.

Two-year-old Rapi Ananda Pamungkas, from Sukabumi, Indonesia started by picking up used butts scattered outside his mother's market stall that older boys would light for him.

But within days he was hooked and would constantly pester passing shoppers to give him cigarettes.

They initially found the youngster's demands endearing and plied him with cigarettes and would laugh as he lit up.

Little Rapi, nicknamed Rap, is filmed sitting on a motorbike wearing a Spider-man t-shirt and happily puffing at a cigarette which looks enormous clutched in his tiny hand.

The video soon shows people pointing and staring at the sight of a toddler smoking so casually in the street as his mother smiles.

People can be seen approaching little Rapi to try and take the cigarette from him- which he pulls back with a grumpy look on his face. 

The little boy smokes one cigarette to another and does not look bothered by the crowds that have gathered to watch him.

Rapi's mother, Maryati, 35, admitted that she buys two packs of cigarettes a day for the boy to stop him from going crazy. 

The toddler soon started becoming aggressive and throwing tantrums when he couldn't get his beloved 'meroko'- the local term for cigarettes. 

She said: 'My child is used to smoking while drinking coffee and eating cake.

'He has been smoking every day for around two months. If I don't give him a cigarette, my child goes berserk.' 

The mother said that it had been difficult to ban her child from smoking because he will 'cry all day' if he can't smoke.

She said: 'If Rapi doesn't get cigarettes he cannot sleep. He will start rampaging and crying. 

'It's expensive, because we have to buy them for him. He likes to do it all day. He can smoke about 40 every day.'

Rapi's father, Misbahudin, 40, who also smokes, says doesn't know why his child became so addicted.

He added: 'I cannot say no to him when he asks for a cigarette. I don't even smoke that often. I only smoke at work. When my son smokes he likes to have a cup of mochaccino.'

The parents said they will take the toddler to see a doctor to try and kick his smoking habit.

Indonesia has one of the highest numbers of smokers per population in the world and a growing problem of child smokers. Around nine per cent of under 18s smoke regularly.

In 2010, the two-year-old boy Aldi Rizal achieved notoriety after it emerged he also would smoke two packets a day, with footage showing him smoking cigarettes.

This article has been adapted from its original source.

You may also like

Subscribe

Sign up to our newsletter for exclusive updates and enhanced content