My heart nearly stopped when I saw the little child getting slammed on to the ground. At the 22 second mark. Oh my God!
Police officer knocking down a mother and child in China
According to Today, the incident happened in Shanghai, in China, last Friday and involved a tussle between a mum and a police officer over parking fines.
An online statement issued by the police says that a Shanghai police officer named Zhu had issued a ticket for illegal parking to a woman called Zhang.
Apparently, Zhang, who has holding her toddler, ended up arguing with Zhu, and shoved him, and obstructed him from doing his duty. The statement says that she did so, even after being repeatedly warned.
The angry officer, in a fit of rage and perhaps overreaction, swiftly knocked down Zhang - and the toddler she was holding - on to the pavement, completely ignoring the safety of the child. It seems both the mum and child suffered minor injuries.
It's a scary, scary sight, and understandably, the video has sparked much outrage among netizens over how much force is too much, when it came to officers in authority.
Meanwhile, here is the much talked about video about the shocking incident:
The video has gone viral, and reactions to the incident seem to be divided.
According to Channel NewsAsia, one netizen criticised the brutal behaviour of the officer, and posted, "How much of a threat to the safety of a police officer could come from a woman clutching a child ... Even if there was some issue or dispute, that was no reason to slam the child to the ground."
Some others blamed the mum for engaging in a tussle, without paying heed to the welfare of her child. She shouldn't have broken the law in the first place, they opined.
A user posted on Weibo, "This troublemaker believed that the police wouldn’t take her on and acted with reckless abandon."
Whatever the case, we feel sorry for the poor child who got caught in the situation and ended up getting traumatised. The police said that Zhu has been punished by being given a serious warning about his conduct; he can not be promoted or receive a pay rise for 18 months.
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(Source: Today, Channel NewsAsia)