Hong Kong girl tackled, Hong Kong police criticized after video shows officers

 Hong Kong girl tackled, Hong Kong police criticized after video shows officers.

A video of a 12-year-old girl being tackled by Hong Kong police has sparked renewed outrage on social media, as pro-democracy protests spilled out across the city.

Nearly 300 people were arrested on Sunday as riot police swooped in on protesters opposed to the postponement of local elections. 

The video, shared on social media, appears to show the girl being cornered by police. She then runs away, before being tackled to the ground by a number of officers.

In a statement on Sunday night, however, Hong Kong Police said they had attempted to stop and search the girl when she "suddenly ran away in a suspicious manner".

"Officers, therefore, chased and subdued her with use of minimum necessary force," the statement read. "Upon investigation, she and other protestors at the scene were participating in a prohibited group gathering."

The girl, and the other protesters, were issued penalty tickets, the statement continued. 

Sunday was meant to be voting day for the city's partially elected legislature, one of the few instances where Hong Kongers get to cast ballots.

But the city's pro-Beijing leader Carrie Lam suspended the polls for a year - citing the coronavirus pandemic - angering the pro-democracy opposition who had been hoping to capitalise on seething anti-government sentiment.

Hundreds of riot police flooded the district of Kowloon in a bid to thwart online calls for flash mob protests to mark the suspended vote.

Throughout the afternoon officers were heckled by people shouting slogans such as "Give me back my vote!" and "Corrupt cops!" as officers conducted multiple stop and searches and ordered crowds to disperse.