Police officer arrested for child abuse after video surfaced

A 41-year-old Hong Kong police officer was arrested today after a video circulated online showed him physically and verbally abusing his six-year-old son.

The police officer was arrested on suspicion of "ill-treatment or neglect by those in charge of a child or young person", police spokesman said.

The arrest came after a 15 minutes long video was circulated on an online local forum.

The video shows a man repeatedly scolding his son, and saying to the young child that he is “a piece of garbage",  he should “die soon”, he has “disrupted the society” and more.

In the video, the man removed his slippers and threw them at the boy, then punched and kicked his son. 

The boy bursted into tears, but the man ignored him and continued to scold him. 

The police officer has been suspended from his duty and he was released by bail and must report back to the police in early June, police spokesman said.

The child abuse case has been under investigation from January this year by Child Abuse Investigation Unit.

“The Police attach great importance to the conduct of personnel. If any illegal behavior is discovered after investigation, it must be dealt with seriously,” police spokesman added.