A low-ranking police officer was suspended from work after a video showing him assaulting a young boy selling tissues boxes in the metro went viral on social media, an informed security source told the Ahram Arabic website on Thursday.

According to the source, the incident is being investigated and the police officer will be suspended until the end of the investigations.

Earlier this week, a video surfaced on Facebook showing a low-ranking policeman beating and dragging a boy who was selling tissue boxes in a women's only metro carriage in Cairo.

In the video, the boy, who refused to move from the carriage, cried and begged the officer to leave him alone because he wanted to enjoy the Eid holiday.

The video went viral, causing anger among social media users who rejected the brutality of the police officer.