India, July 7 -- An Indian mother of two has addressed critics online after a video of her child wearing a leash during a family trip to New York City drew attention. Shubhangi Jagota, an Indian woman living in Canada, shared a clip of her 3.5-year-old son running and jumping around in Times Square, safely tethered to his father using a child leash.

"He's 3.5 and we're not ashamed to say we put him on a leash. In a city like New York, this was hands-down the best decision for our trip. Our little runner always wants his freedom, and this gave him just that without giving us a heart attack every 5 minutes," she wrote in the caption.

Jagota explained that the leash allowed their energetic toddler to explore the city while staying close en...