( CNN ) -- A video of a British man and his Saudi wife being assaulted by members of Saudi Arabia 's religious police has gone viral across the Arab world . The video , which shows a man in a headscarf leaping off a car to attack another man in a parking lot , was filmed after the couple reportedly used a women-only cashier line at a supermarket in Riyadh . In a statement published on the website of a well-known Saudi writer and blogger , the British man said that while he and his wife were shopping , they noticed three young men who looked `` religious '' following them . As they were going through the cashier line reserved for women and families , he said the men `` started pushing and shoving '' and verbally abusing them . The men followed the couple out to the parking lot , where a crowd of people gathered as the argument continued . The British national said the three men `` attacked '' him after he took a photo of them on his phone , according to the online statement attributed to him . `` While I was on the ground all three of them proceeded to kick me repeatedly in the head and back , '' he said in the statement . He said that his wife got out of the car to defend him and was kicked in the stomach after hitting one of the men . In the short mobile phone video , the British man can be heard screaming , `` Get off of my wife ! That 's my wife , how dare you ! '' He said they called the British Embassy and locked themselves in their car until `` embassy security arrived '' and they were escorted home . The man has been named by Saudi newspapers , but the British Embassy in Riyadh would not confirm his identity . He did not sign his name to the online statement but Ahmed Al Omran , the blog 's owner , wrote : `` I know the man and I have met him a couple of times before . He is British , married to a Saudi woman and they have been living in Riyadh for years . '' The office of the head of the religious police , officially known as the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice ( CPVP ) , concluded that the video was authentic and condemned the attack on the couple as `` unacceptable '' in a statement Tuesday . The CPVP 's investigation found that the men acted beyond their remit in approaching the couple inside a private shopping center , and that they lied in their accounts of events , according to the statement . Four members of the religious police have been transferred to administrative jobs outside Riyadh . A British Embassy spokesman said they were providing consular assistance to the British national and `` welcome the undertaking taken by the head of the [ CVPV ] Sheikh Abdullatif Al ash-Sheikh to investigate the incident fully . '' The incident has been heavily covered in Saudi and Arab press and generated much discussion online . The YouTube video has been viewed more than 400,000 times . In an apparent reference to the incident , one member of Saudi Arabia 's Consultative Assembly , or Shura Council , addressed the `` lack of discipline '' among religious police field workers and their `` flawed judgment '' in a session on Monday , according to the body 's official website .
Video shows Saudi Arabia 's religious police attacking British man and his Saudi wife . Score: 6 Office of head of religious police ( CPVP ) says video is authentic , condemns attack as `` unacceptable '' CPVP says four of its members have been transferred to administrative jobs outside Riyadh .