"Baby Shark Dduru Dduru..." Repeated Playback in US Prison, Inmates Claim 'Mental Torture'

Popular children's song 'Baby Shark'
[Photo by YouTube 'Pinkfong' capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Prisoners incarcerated in U.S. prisons have filed a lawsuit against correctional officers who repeatedly played the popular children's song 'Baby Shark.'

According to the Associated Press on the 5th (local time), three prisoners?Daniel Hedrick, Joseph Mitchell, and John Vasco?who were held at the Oklahoma County Jail filed a civil lawsuit against two former correctional officers, the correctional authorities, and the sheriff immediately after their release.

They claimed that two correctional officers, Christian Charles Miles and Gregory Cornell Butler, who were officers two years ago, subjected them to mental torture by repeatedly playing 'Baby Shark' in a confined room.

According to the complaint, on November 23, 2019, officers Miles and Butler took Hedrick to the attorney visitation room. They then handcuffed Hedrick, made him stand facing the wall, and forced him to listen to 'Baby Shark' for 1 hour and 30 minutes.

Mitchell and Vasco also had to listen to the repeatedly played 'Baby Shark' for several hours in November and December 2019 while being unable to move their bodies.

Their attorney argued that forcing inmates to listen to the 'Baby Shark' song for extended periods while handcuffed is "tantamount to torture."

Earlier, the Oklahoma County Prosecutor's Office, which investigated the case, indicted Miles and Butler last year on charges of mistreating inmates.

The prosecution stated, "Miles and Butler had previously been the subject of complaints for abusing inmates," and described the repeated playing of 'Baby Shark' to torment inmates as a "cruel and inhumane act."