A 38-year-old man had to face the ire of the Motor Vehicles Department officials after his picture allowing his five-year-old daughter ride a scooter went viral. The Perumpadappu-based building contractor’s driving license got cancelled for one year on Monday.

The Department acted against 38-year-old Shibu Francis after a picture showed him allegedly permitting his minor daughter to ride the scooter on a busy highway Edapally in Ernakulam district on Sunday, while the parents and a sibling sat pillion, reports timesnownews.com.

The video grab showed the girl holding the handle while standing in the leg space of the scooter. The girl’s younger sibling and parents could be seen perched behind her in the picture. The ‘adventure’ of the family was recorded by a car driver on the highway. He even reportedly reprimanded Shibu for the dangerous ride. The person driving the car later posted the video on Facebook.

Shibu allegedly said that he was feeling pain in the arm and had, therefore, asked his elder daughter to handle the vehicle for a while. Transport Commissioner K Padmakumar reportedly watched the video on Facebook and reported the matter to Ernakulam Regional Transport Officer (RTO) Jojy P Jose.

The probe revealed that the vehicle was registered in the name of Ramachandran, the maternal grandfather of the girl. Jose said that during the hearing, Shibu admitted to the mistake and ‘attributed it to ignorance’. Shibu’s licence has since been suspended.