Rawalpindi police have stated that three suspects have been arrested after a harrowing video of a girl’s hair being forcibly cut went viral on social media.

The video, which has been making the rounds on social media since Tuesday, shows a man standing over what appears to be a young girl and cutting her hair with a pair of scissors while others in the background watch.

Subsequently, another video also surfaced on social media, purportedly of the victim, in which she alleged that the incident occurred one-and-a-half months ago in Rawalpindi’s Christian Colony. She also alleged that she was beaten and threatened, adding that four men were involved in the incident.

In a statement early on Tuesday, Rawalpindi police commented on the incident. The statement referred to the victim as a “girl”.

“A video of a girl being beaten and her hair being cut has come forward, after which a video statement also came forward,” the statement said.

The incident took place in Rawalpindi and Islamabad a month and a half ago, the statement said, adding that it was not reported to the police earlier.

It went on to say that the Rawalpindi City Police Officer (CPO) Syed Khalid Hamdani had taken notice of the incident, adding that police had gotten in touch with the girl in the video.

“Legal action is being taken at her request at the Naseerabad Police Station,” it said.

“Three accused have been taken into custody in light of the victim’s statement,” the statement added.

It said that crimes pertaining to violence, coercion and exploitation of women would not be tolerated.

“All the accused involved in the incident will be arrested and punished to the fullest extent of the law,” the statement quoted the Rawalpindi CPO as saying.

A first information report (FIR) of the incident has been registered under Sections 337V (intentional uprooting of hair) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Pakistan Penal Code.

The FIR, a copy of which is available with Dawn, was registered on behalf of Duty Foot Constable (DFC) Asad Hussain at the Naseerabad police station in the early hours of Tuesday against four named and “a few other” unidentified suspects.

It said that “a video went viral on social media, including on Facebook, in which some people can be seen forcibly cutting the hair of a girl”.

Upon further investigation, it was found that the incident had occurred in Christian Colony, the FIR said, adding that the suspects had committed a serious crime by forcibly cutting the girl’s hair and then widely sharing the video on social media.

Last night, Islamabad police also commented on the incident, saying that it had taken place in Rawalpindi and not in the capital’s Lohi Bher area as was being reported.

“Islamabad police have traced the girl and have recorded her statement,” it said. Police further said that they had “conducted raids” and taken those involved into custody.

“However, since the incident took place in Rawalpindi, the suspects are being handed over to the police concerned,” it added.