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Ho Chi Minh City Police have suspended an officer after a video of him dragging a female street vendor by the hair went viral online.
Lieutenant Bui Xuan Hai has been identified as the officer in the video, which triggered public anger just hours after going online. It received around 5,000 views on YouTube in just 10 hours.
Hai is seen grabbing the woman's hair and dragging her around for at least half a minute until people intervened.
He tried to leave by car but was stopped by members of the public.
A police spokesman said Hai was in charge of maintaining traffic order around Turtle Lake in District 3 on Thursday evening when he clashed with the 41-year-old vendor, named Thao.
People in the area said that when his car pulled up near the lake at around 8 p.m., many vendors grabbed their merchandise and ran, but Hai managed to grab hold of Thao.
The woman had to receive several stitches after her head was cut in the struggle.
Hai claimed she slipped and hit her head while trying to run away, but admitted he lost his temper after Thao verbally abused him.
Le Dong Phong, the director of the city's police department, has criticized Hai and said he will be punished.
“He was wrong,” Phong said of Hai’s actions. “He gave us a very bad image.”
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