A 10-year-old boy has been arrested for choking his grandmother in the mainland Chinese province of Heilongjiang, Malaysian media Oriental Daily reported.

Footage of the incident on social media showed the boy grabbing his grandmother in a headlock chokehold after she beat him.

Taiwanese media Mirror Media reported that footage of the incident first emerged on Weibo, before spreading to other social media platforms.

What happened?

The video begins with the grandmother beating her grandson, while holding a stick in one hand.

In response, the boy attempted to snatch the stick away and punched his grandmother in the process.

He then grabbed her in a chokehold and brought her to the floor as she repeatedly beat him with a slipper in an attempt to get him to free her.

Eventually, she stopped moving and the person filming the scene could be heard persuading the boy to let go while laughing off-camera.

The boy who was still holding on to the elderly woman then shouted in response that he was beaten by his grandmother "every time" and accused her of being unreasonable.

Subsequently, the person filming asked in a more worried tone for the boy to let go of his grandmother and get up.

He could also be heard telling the boy, "She won't hit you anymore."

When the boy eventually let go, he was repeatedly beaten by another woman carrying a child on her back.

She could also be heard telling him that his grandmother had died.

According to Mirror Media, this woman is the boy's mother.

The video then ended with the boy begging for his grandmother to get up while the woman continued to beat him.

It is unclear if his grandmother was unconscious or had passed away.

Supposedly instigated by friends to retaliate against his grandmother

Oriental Daily further reported that the boy had allegedly been instigated by his friends to retaliate against his grandmother, quoting reports in Chinese media.

He has since been arrested with three of his friends.

Top screenshots via United Singaporean/Facebook