A disturbing video shows a woman being surrounded and beaten by masked protesters in Hong Kong. The unsettling footage comes as authorities struggle to clamp down on worsening violence in the semi-autonomous city.

The assault was reportedly sparked by a political disagreement between the woman and a group of armed demonstrators. Video of the attack shows the woman trying to walk away, only to be thrown to the ground by one of the black-clad rioters. One of the men then uses what appears to be a metal rod to beat her over the head. The woman then sits on the pavement as the group surrounds her and taunts her. A journalist then helps her to her feet as blood trickles down the side of her face. She attempts to leave the scene, but the rioters catch up to her and begin to beat her with their rods once again. A man then shields her with his body as she sits curled up on the ground.

What you won’t see in Western Media coverage of #HongKongProtests: #HongKongProtesters beating up woman. pic.twitter.com/RAxpPK9iGw — Carl Zha (@CarlZha) November 12, 2019

Filmed on Monday, the horrific footage has gone largely ignored by media outlets, with some commentators even insisting that the video lacks proper context.

Up in the mainland, videos like this from #HongKong are spreading quickly online. It’s like a parallel world to the police violence clips. Not a lot of context or background on this clip (which was already edited on a pro-Beijing wechat channel) - but really nasty stuff pic.twitter.com/ctKgoMqBXb — Bill Birtles (@billbirtles) November 12, 2019

On Monday, a similar verbal confrontation resulted in a group of protesters dousing a man in flammable liquid and lighting him on fire. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam has vowed to restore order to the semi-autonomous territory, describing the violent protesters as “the people’s enemy” who are “relentlessly destroying society.”

Violence does not seem to be letting up, however. On Tuesday night, demonstrators armed with Molotov cocktails, javelins and other weapons seized control of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), leaving a trail of destruction in their wake.

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