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Police in Singapore are investigating the assault of an elderly man after he patted a young girl on the head at a food court.<\/b><\/p>\n
A man believed to be the father of the young girl, who appeared agitated after the gesture, allegedly threw the 73-year-old to the ground.<\/p>\n
Security camera footage of the incident on Saturday went viral over the weekend, with many voicing anger at the younger man’s reaction.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Sunday night, police said they had identified a 40-year-old man involved in the incident.<\/p>\n
The police urged people “not to speculate on the incident or its circumstances” and let police “conduct investigations and establish the facts of the case”.<\/p>\n
A video , external<\/span><\/a>of the incident shows the elderly man patting the child on the head as he walked past her table at a food court in a shopping centre.<\/p>\n A woman seated at the same table, believed to be the girl’s mother, immediately stopped him. Another man believed to be the father, <\/b>walking back to the table, confronted the elderly man. <\/p>\n After what appeared to be a heated exchange, the younger man was seen grabbing the elderly man’s arm and throwing him to the ground.<\/p>\n The video quickly went viral in Singapore, sparking widespread condemnation of the younger man’s actions. While some argued the elderly man should not have touched the child without the parents’ consent, most agreed the physical altercation was an overreaction to a pat on the head.<\/p>\n