The video of a man beating up an elderly woman in what appeared to be an old folks home has gone viral on the Internet.

In the 11-second video, a man was seen scolding the old woman and then raising his hand.

The woman then attempted to shield her head but the man hit her on her head several times.

Within four hours of the video being uploaded on Facebook, it had received over 350,000 views and almost 600 shares.

Caretaker abuses woman at nursing home by kinitv

The video caused outrage amongst netizens who condemned the abuse.

"You are worse than an animal, you deserve to be thrown in a pit of fire," said Facebook user Teena Kaur.

"You have a mother too, don't do this," said another user Daniel Chin.

A large number of comments were vulgarities directed at the man.

Netizens claimed that the incident happened in an old folks home in Malacca.

Malaysiakini has contacted the old folks home and is temporarily withholding its name pending response.

In a related development, Malacca Chief Minister Idris Haron claimed he knew the man and condemned his actions.

“I know the caretaker personally and I never imagined he would treat elderly persons in such a harsh manner.

“I want action against the caretaker for doing this to helpless senior citizens,” he was quoted as saying by The Star Online.

He also instructed the State Welfare Department to review all private homes to ensure that they comply with regulation.

The report said a staff of the old folks home had lodged a police report over the incident yesterday.

Meanwhile, according to Sin Chew Daily, a person who runs an old folks home admitted he was the man in the video but denied he assaulted the woman.

He claimed he was only "acting", while residents at the old folks home visited by the Chinese-language daily said they have never been assaulted.

The daily did not identify the home.

In January, a video of youths seemingly assaulting their grandmother also went viral on social media, prompting police investigation.

However, the alleged victim, who works as a cleaner, said her grandchildren were only playing with her and urged the public not to interfere.

Police also said the children were "just joking".