A maid in Kuwait is seen hanging outside a window pleading for help as her employer records the ordeal in a video that went viral on social media.

The maid is heard shouting for help, saying "hold me, hold me", before losing her grip and falling seven floors.

Warning: some may find the footage distressing

فيديو/ عندما تغيب الإنسانية بسبب هوس التصوير ! pic.twitter.com/vRYyH9LlK0 — المجلس (@Almajlliss) March 30, 2017

The woman recording the video can be heard telling the maid "you are crazy, come back in" and then moving away from the maid instead of helping.

Kuwaiti police have detained the woman employer for filming the apparent suicide attempt without trying to rescue her employee, media and a rights group said.

The Kuwaiti woman filmed as her maid landed on a metal awning and survived, then posted the incident on social media, Al-Seyassah newspaper reported.

The 12-second video shows the maid hanging outside the building, with one hand tightly gripping the window frame, as she begs for help in an apparent last-minute change of heart.

Later, paramedics rescued the maid and rushed her to hospital where she was found to have suffered a broken arm and bleeding from her nose and ears, the newspaper said.

The maid in the Sabah el-Salem area of Kuwait survived the fall and is seen being helped down a ladder by a member of the rescue services.

رجال الاطفاء يساعدون الخادمة التي سقطت من أعلى العمارة. pic.twitter.com/9QTgpzG2J3 — المجلس (@Almajlliss) March 30, 2017

The Kuwait Society for Human Rights in a statement condemned the incident, saying there was "no care for her life", and called for an official investigation.

People expressed shock on social media as to why the employer just stood there and recorded it all.

So many questions. Also, whoever was taking the video should be arrested. Can anyone make sense of this? https://t.co/5B72MqKGE9 — Nader (@BonsaiSky) March 30, 2017

One user compared the incident to this illustration saying "this is our current state".

The criminal investigation police referred the maid's employer to prosecutors for failing to help the victim, the daily said.

The reasons for the maid's attempted suicide were not revealed.

Earlier this year a couple were arrested in Kuwait for torturing a maid until she was able to escape and find help.

The oil-rich Gulf state is home to more than 600,000 domestic helpers, a majority of them Asians, many of whom complain of abuse, mistreatment and non-payment of wages.

Hundreds of maids escape their employers every year over abuse, and the government has set up shelters for them. Some seek help from their embassies.