Dubai: A father is seeking custody of his children after a video that showed his son dancing with undergarments on his head went viral on social media.

The mother had won custody of the five children as per a Dubai Sharia Court ruling that granted her and the father a divorce after nine years of marriage.

The five children, who are all schoolchildren aged under 11, were staying with their mother when the father lodged the custody case after the video went viral on social media and more than 15,000 viewers saw it.

Sources close to the case told Gulf News that the father lodged his lawsuit shortly after he saw his eldest son wearing an adult man’s undergarment over his head and dancing.

“The video footage exposed the son partly dressed and swaying shamelessly with the underwear on his head. A son and a daughter were shown behaving in an inappropriate manner. The father believed that it would be unhealthy and inappropriate for his ex-wife to keep custody of the children after what he saw on a social media network. Thousands of comments on social media accused the father of failing to raise his children properly. Some of the comments also accused the father of being careless and negligent and not deserving to be a father,” the source told the newspaper.

In his lawsuit before the Dubai Sharia Court, the father blamed the mother for failing to provide their children with proper education, nurturing and a safe family atmosphere.

He also claimed that the mother constantly prevented his children from communicating with him or his family and how she always portrayed a negative image of him in an attempt to make them hate him.

“The mother constantly uses foul language with her children and in front of them as well. She cannot take full responsibility and is incapable of taking care of the children by herself especially as she is a full-time employee,” the father mentioned in his lawsuit.

Despite having provided the Dubai Sharia Court with copies of the video that went viral on social media networks, the presiding judge dismissed the father’s lawsuit and refused to grant him custody.

The father has challenged the primary ruling and is seeking to win custody before the Dubai Appeal Court that is scheduled to convene soon.