This is the moment a man is throttled with a belt and beaten with a stick by the relatives of a young woman he allegedly harassed.

The incident was filmed in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, and a police investigation was launched after the footage was widely circulated on social media.

The victim, named as Baldau Jadhav, 28, was attacked by three relatives of the woman he allegedly ‘harassed’.

Journalist Anurag Dwary said Jadhav only “teased” the young woman, however, it is unclear what he said to her and how old she was.

The footage shows Jadhav apparently being throttled by a belt around his neck by one suspect as another man hits him with a stick and a third person films the scenes.

Meanwhile, the victim screams for them to stop while apparently covered in blood.

Local media said the ordeal continued for some time, with Jadhav pleading for mercy and he admitted he made a mistake.

Police spokesperson Shivkumar Verma said: “The person who was beaten is Baldau Jadhav. He went to jail in an extortion case and was recently released.”

With regards to the three suspects, the police said that “they are on the run and efforts are being made to catch them”.

The police spokesperson added: “There is a cell phone in each hand. Someone shoots a video, (it) goes viral after eight to 10 days. We ask people to notify the police immediately so that a case can be filed and action taken.”