Moscow, Russia - In a viral and highly disturbing video, two parents appeared to tattoo their screaming, distressed one-year-old baby as part of an online competition.

The video, which is no longer on TikTok, sparked outrage when it showed a pair of parents using a tattoo gun on a screaming baby's arm, inking the phrase "Mellstroy.Game."

The parents reportedly tattooed the baby as part of a contest instigated by an online casino that offered apartments worth more than $60,000 to people who shared outrageous videos, People reports.

"We've decided to take part in this competition," the child's mom said at the beginning of the video, according to a translation by the Sun.

"We didn't know how to surprise you, Mellstroy, so we've decided to get a tattoo for our one-year-old child," she said. "We've been living in rented accommodation for three years now and can't afford to buy a flat."

The video immediately went viral when it was posted online, disturbing many with footage of a highly distressed baby screaming and wriggling as its parents tattooed it.

Authorities in Russia quickly responded by launching an investigation, local newspaper Izvestia reports, but the parents have insisted that they used a pen, not a tattoo gun.

"Employees of the juvenile affairs unit plan to check the housing and living conditions of the family and put it on the preventive register," said Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation spokesperson Irina Volk.

"We didn’t tattoo the child. We pretended to do it," the mother told Izvestia. "I didn't think people would believe it, because it was a one-year-old, not 18 or 20."

"The inscription was written with a black gel pen. We didn't use a tattoo machine, and we removed the needles from the cartridge."