The video where a group of men brutally beat up a young man in Moto’outa can only be described as a horrific scene out of a movie.

To those who have seen the video, you can see the amount of beating the young man took. Even when he was out cold, the brutality continued and it is a miracle that the young man is still alive.

Similar types of incidents in the past have led to some losing their lives, luckily that was the not the case in this incident.

According to the police, the matter was not reported to them and it is understood that the victim was also yet to present himself to the hospital.

Responding to questions from the Samoa Observer, Police Commissioner, Auapa'au Logoitino Filipo said the Police have only started investigating the assault after they received the video, and it is difficult for him at this stage to provide any more information on the incident.

"But we are now looking into the matter after the video had been posted and shared online by a lot of people," Auapa'au said. "Three boys have been brought in as of this afternoon [Tuesday], and we are hoping to get all the people involved, especially the victim and his family.

"This kind of behaviour is unacceptable and we will investigate this issue and make sure it will not happen again."

Yes indeed, Police Commissioner, such behaviour is unacceptable across any society as this displays the fact that violence is something people will always resort to in such circumstances.

Just looking at the number of violent incidents within the last month, there was a brawl at the national university, this was followed by another brawl at the Fugalei Market and then this video emerged depicting the dark side of Samoan society.

There are certain things to note from this incident. The first one is that the cycle of violence which is breeding in our homes and schools does have a spillover effect. The school brawls are clearly indicative of the fact that some people accept that it is just part of school life.

Are we not teaching children in our homes that violence is never the answer and is this why we are getting to see such behaviour on our streets? Some would say that street violence is not new for the youth in central Apia.

Just because it is nothing new does not mean that nothing has to be done about it. If the church sessions and village council talks are not working, Samoa has the laws to effectively deal with such incidents. Perpetrators should face the full brunt of the law instead of being let off with a slap on the wrist.

The second thing is that such action depicts the possibility of gangs forming in Samoa. While this one incident may not be gang related, there have been incidents when youths make up mobs to take on another group who are from another area.

Over a month ago, Samoa was warned about gangs from New Zealand and Australia trying to set up chapters in Samoa. It will not be a difficult task if some of these tried to do so because of such behaviour.

The other thing that can happen is the need to avenge the beating. Some such incidents have also been noted in the past.

In March of this year, the Samoa Observer reported the Apia village mayor urging the community to work together to address rising incidents of street violence in the Samoan capital.

Tuiletufuga Fritz Tuiavii told the Samoa Observer that the rising incidences in street violence in the central urban areas of Apia needs to be addressed by the community.

"All citizens should be proud Samoans and work together to take ownership, be responsible and look after each other no matter which gender, race, money or no money just move on taking care of others," Tuiletufuga said in an interview.

Now why would the mayor of Apia village make this plea? Surely, he is seeing a rise in this type of behaviour.

It is a scary predicament to think that the next up from punching and kicking would be groups resorting to machetes and then guns. Nobody wants to see our beloved nation ending up in a turmoil of street violence.

Samoa is trying to build up its economy and one of the key industries that is being looked at is tourism. Tourists prefer travelling to a destination which is considered safe.

The resolve to such violent acts is in the hands of everyday Samoans. They have to choose the message of peace which is in the Bible and act accordingly. We cannot continue to say we are a ‘Christian’ nation and behave in a manner contradicting that statement.