Man whipped 47 times for insulting deceased Dato

GEORGE TOWN - A heavily tattooed man who is seen being whipped repeatedly in a video that has gone viral on social media was rescued by police, while his punisher was arrested.

Police rescued the victim from a funeral parlour on Friday night where the incident is believed to have taken place.

Penang CID chief Senior Asst Comm Zainol Samah said initial investigations revealed that the victim was whipped because he had insulted a deceased "Datuk" on Facebook.

"The man was picked up by the Datuk's men and brought to a funeral parlour where he was beaten. Upon receiving a tip-off from the public, police went to rescue the man and brought him to the police station where he made a report.

"Police have acted on the report and arrested the man who hit him in the video," SAC Zainol said when contacted on Saturday.

The man was seen being whipped 47 times with a rubber hose in the 1.42min video clip.

He was also kicked once in the chest.

In the video, the man is seen being repeatedly beaten after replying "yes" when asked in Hokkien if he knew the "Datuk".

He was told not to stand up during the whipping.

He is heard pleading not to be whipped.

George Town OCPD Asst Comm Mior Faridalathrash Wahid said police are investigating the matter.