‘Please stop’: Dad caught dragging daughter around supermarket by the hair

Texas police have confirmed they are investigating the apparent abuse of a child who was dragged around a supermarket by her hair as a form of punishment.

Erika Burch said she confronted the father in the Cleveland, Texas Walmart store after hearing the clearly distressed girl tell her father, “Please stop, I won’t do it again, please stop”.

“(The father) told me to mind my own business. I said to him ‘No I’m not. Right now this little girl is my business and you need to let her hair go now’,” Ms Burch said.

Ms Burch said she saw the father had the girl’s hair wrapped around the shopping cart handle, dragging her along and decided to take photos as evidence of the crime.

But when she called police, Ms Burch said she and the little girl were let down by the system, after being told the father “had the right” to discipline his children.

“(An officer inside the Walmart) came running. The officer said if it was up to him, the guy was going to jail (but) his sergeant was coming and we’d have to wait for him,” Ms Burch said.

“The sergeant told (the dad) they couldn’t take him to jail because there were no visible bruises, nor was her hair missing.

“This is after I showed him pictures of this idiot dragging this baby pulling her hair.”

Since Ms Burch’s photos have gone viral, Cleveland Police Department issued a statement confirming the matter was now under investigation.

“We want to assure the community this case is currently being investigated by our detective division. CPS has been contacted per our policy and is also investigating this case. A join investigation is currently being conducted by both agencies,” a police spokesperson said.

Ms Burch said that investigation wasn’t good enough, especially given the girl’s welfare.

“This is what’s wrong with the world today,” she said.

“Nobody stands up for anyone, not even children.

“Now this baby has to go home with this monster thinking that nobody cared about her and it’s okay for this animal to pull her by the hair.”