Guo Zengxi, a policeman from the central city of Linzhou, in Henan province, was on his way to a Karaoke bar after drinking with friends one evening last month when he saw a man holding a baby accompanied by his wife, the Legal Evening News reported today.

After betting with his friends that the child was just a doll, the policeman touched her face then grabbed her from her father, before lifting her up and smashing her on the ground, the report said.

The baby, named Yueyue, suffered three cranial fractures and was taken to hospital, the newspaper said. She will be sent to Beijing for further checks, according to local authorities.

Mr Guo, who was off-duty at the time, received 15 days of disciplinary confinement after the incident but no additional punishment.

Details of the case generated outrage on Chinese social media, with authorities promising to act.

“All officials will handle the case according to law and disciplines and have no leniency,” Linzhou city officials said in a statement.

Last month, a two-year-old Chinese girl was thrown to the ground by a man in a row with her mother over parking. She died a few days later.