A disturbing video from Guatemala shows a mother standing on top of the poor child and dragging him outside in the rain to punish him.

The footage went viral in South America and has sparked outrage on social media.

Guatemalan news site Prensa Libre reports the shocking scene occurred at the camp La Barrita, near the southern-central city of Escuintla. The boy is reported to be just six years old.

The woman pressed her right foot down on the small child’s chest, and his cries could only be heard when she lifted it off to allow him to breathe.

She then violently dragged him by the arm across the hard ground, as Daily Mail reports.

The news channel that shared the images posted the message of an angry sender stating: ‘Hello, I want this video to go viral so that this lady who abuses her son can be stopped. ‘She lives in a community in the neighbourhood of San Jose Escuintla.’

The State Attorney’s Office for Human Rights (PDH) shared the video on their Twitter page, asking anyone with information to come forward.

Lesbia Salguero, a spokesperson for the PDH, said investigators went to the location where the punishment took place but believed the mother was alerted and fled.