KISUMU: A video of a woman being dragged behind a pick-up for several metres in Kenya's western city of Kisumu has gone viral on social media.

People have condemned the incident as barbaric.

The pick-up belonged to county guards, who are known to carry out raids to clear the streets of hawkers selling their wares without valid permits.

The woman who was dragged by the pick-up was 39-year-old Beatrice Atieno Magolo, a divorced woman with four children.

While she admitted that she didn't have a valid permit to sell her goods, she recalled the moment of the incident, saying she begged the guards to let her go.  

People who witnessed the incident shouted at guards, urging them to let Magolo go, she said. 

Her sister, Mary Achieng' Magolo, who was supposed to be with her selling fruits on the street, said she was left very angered by the incident.

It wasn't the first time county guards warned Magolo about selling goods without a valid permit.

But with four children to support, she had no choice but to keep doing it to make a living.