Cairo: Saudi police said they have arrested a man who appeared in an online video hitting a girl in a public place.

In the purported footage apparently filmed on a mobile phone, a young man is seen assaulting the girl while pedestrians trying to stop him.

Police identified the assailant and arrested him in the region of Tabuk in north-west Saudi Arabia, spokesman for local police Col. Khalid Al Ghaban said.

“Preliminary legal procedures were taken against him and he was referred to the public prosecution branch,” he added without details. The cause of the violence in the incident is not clear yet. Nor is it established if the assailant and the victim are related.

Saudi authorities have toughened penalties for verbal and physical abuses. According to the kingdom’s law, violence resulting in bodily harm is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a fine of SR1 million.