YouTube/Jackie Brown

A video made up of photos of a man's hand being cut off in Syria is circulating in YouTube and has gone viral. The images from Maskanah were initially posted in Twitter but were eventually removed.

Metro reports that the punishment was made by the Syrian militant group ISIS after the man allegedly admitted to the theft and requested for his right hand to be cut off to cleanse himself from sins, according to several Jihadi tweets that promoted the punishment. ISIS is one of the extremist groups or rebels trying to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The NY Daily News said the photos were posted on the Twitter account @reyadriraq which is now defunct.

Images showed a large crowd, including children, gathered to watch the punishment as the man, who was blindfolded, had his hand outstretched waiting for the final cut on his limbs. The face of the man who wielded the sword used for cutting the hand was masked.

Later images showed his amputated hand left on the table, while he lay back with an open wound.

Several Twitter members responded to the incident.

VictoriaWindle found the act of cutting someone's hand off as sick, while Clausius pointed out that Americans are arming the militants in Syria who cut people's hands off.

Hunadah asked if people are cutting the hands of thieves, "should we cut off from those who force marriage on women?"

Nizar Nayouf pointed out the punishment is according to Islamic Sharia.

ISIS as well as other Islamic countries have placed bans on smoking, music and other behaviours considered not consistent with the Islamic faith. Those who defy the prohibition have been beheaded or flogged, such as the one below posted in YouTube with more than 1.5 million views.

YouTube/The Third Rail Concept