Footage shows kidnapped Syrian boy, 6, being beaten 

Footage of an six-year-old boy being beaten is circulating on the internet after he was kidnapped on his way to school in the south of Syria by four people on motorbikes.

In the video, which was released last week, Fawaz lies on a bed wearing just his underwear whilst someone hits him repeatedly. “Please stop beating me,” he says.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) say Fawaz Al-Qutayfan was taken from his home in November last year, but the video was sent recently to his family which has renewed pressure on the case.

The kidnappers asked for $150,000 in exchange for Fawaz’s release and the Arabic hashtag ‘Save Fawaz Al-Qutayfan’, is trending in several Arab countries with calls to help raise the money for the ransom.

Fawaz’s uncle has said that the kidnappers have threatened to cut off Fawaz’s fingers if the family doesn’t pay the money.

SOHR later reported that Fawaz’s family has secured the full amount.

The news coincides with the tragedy of five-year old Rayan Oram, who died after falling into a well in the village of Ighran in Morocco.

“We can’t afford to lose yet another innocent soul,” wrote one social media user.

SOHR reports that there has been an increase in child kidnappings as security deteriorates in Syria, including in Daraa, Damascus, Rif Dimashq, Idlib and Aleppo.

READ: Moroccans bid farewell to boy who died in well – ‘the son of us all’