Chinese authorities are investigating a 2019 incident where a surgeon allegedly punched an 82-year-old woman thrice in the head during surgery, a video of which caused a furore in local social media.

Though the incident occurred in December 2019, it only came to the public's attention this week after a prominent Chinese doctor, Ai Fen, shared CCTV footage of the surgery.

The video appears to show the surgeon punching the patient in the head at least three times while operating on her eyes.

The video clip of the surgeon punching the 82-year-old woman during surgery went viral on Chinese social media following which the hospital parent group, Aier China, sacked the surgeon and the CEO of the hospital, the BBC reported.

The case is being further investigated by the police.

Aier China, which operates a chain of eye hospitals, said the incident took place during an operation in its hospital in Guigang, a southwestern Chinese city.

"During the surgery, due to local anaesthesia, the patient had intolerance". She moved her head and eyeballs multiple times, it said in a statement.

As the patient could only speak a local dialect and did not appear to respond to the doctor's warnings in Mandarin, the surgeon "treated the patient roughly in an emergency".

The report said the local authorities have said the patient sustained bruises on her forehead.

After the surgery, the hospital's management apologised and paid 500 yuan (USD 70) as compensation, according to the patient's son who spoke to local media outlets.

He also said his mother is now blind in her left eye, though it is not clear whether it was due to the incident.

Aier China said the hospital failed to report the incident to the headquarters.

On Thursday it announced the dismissal of the Guiyang Hospital CEO and the suspension of the surgeon - who is also the hospital dean - over "serious violations of the group's regulations", which included other unspecified offences.

Dr Ai, who was among a group of doctors who alerted the public to the initial Wuhan Covid outbreak, had posted the clip on her Weibo account.

Dr Ai has been embroiled in legal disputes with Aier China since 2021 when she went for an operation at one of their hospitals. She has claimed she nearly became blind in one eye due to that operation, but Aier China has denied the allegation, the report said.

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