Authorities in Brazil have penalized a woman’s uncle for using a waterfall to determine the gender of the unborn child.
The Mato Grosso State Secretariat for the Environment fined Raijan Mascarello 10,000 reals (just over $1,900) on Thursday because he had dumped “solid, liquid, or gaseous trash or debris, oils or substance oils” in the waterfall.
On September 25, his niece and her husband gathered friends and relatives to a private residence in the Mato Grosso town of Tangará da Serra to celebrate the gender reveal of their unborn child.
Mascarello said on the weekly news program Fantastico on the Globo Network that he had warned the married couple before dumping a dye intended to tint ornamental ponds and swimming pools.
“Do you believe we would contaminate river water?” The most beautiful thing in the world and these (ecosystems) are part of a contract we struck, Mascarello remarked.
The pleased uncle said that the substance he used was environmentally friendly and biodegradable.
Just give the water some color. Mascarello only stated that. I just (needed) permission to do it, and we were unaware. The next time, I shall request permission.
The soon-to-be parents shared footage of the incident on social media before removing them in response to a significant backlash.
Any pollution of the water source in the name of a gender reveal party would not be well-received by the inhabitants who rely on it since the town has had times of drought that have damaged its water supply.
Before Mascarello was punished, local officials initiated an inquiry and deployed a team to the waterfall after outraged social media users alerted them to the prank.
Many people on social media demanded that the pair be imprisoned for an environmental violation when the prank flopped.
The waterfall on the Queima-Pe River is 59 feet tall. Nearly four kilometres separate it from Tangará da Serra’s downtown.
The city receives its water supply from a creek. Residents who were worried about probable water poisoning raised their concerns.
Samples obtained from the river, however, did not show any unfavorable alterations.