Four Chinese students held after video posted online of alleged abuse of boy with lit cigarettes

A video has appeared online allegedly showing four Chinese teenagers using lit cigarettes to abuse a younger boy while he is restrained with rope, mainland media reports.

The alleged incident took place in a darkened house, and the victim is heard screaming and pleading for mercy throughout the video clip, which lasts 2 minutes and 11 seconds, the Legal Evening News reported.

It was posted on social media in Zhejiang province on Sunday, and quickly drew the attention of internet users.

Qingyuan county police announced later on Sunday that four suspects had been taken into custody.

The newspaper reported on Monday that the alleged assailants were students at a county junior secondary school, while the boy in the video was in Primary One.

On Sunday Chen Li, deputy publicity director of the Central Politics and Law Commission, also unveiled a national internet platform for the public to report incidents of bullying at school.