Shocking images that purportedly show a man dragging a crying girl around a Walmart in Texas by her hair have gone viral after a concerned shopper posted them to Facebook.

Erika Burch was at the store in Cleveland, Texas on Monday when she saw what she described as child abuse. She said the man had the little girl's hair "wrapped around" a shopping cart handle and was pushing it through the store as the girl cried, "Please stop, I promise I won't do it again."

In a Facebook post about the incident, Burch said she tried to stop the man but he told her to mind her own business. Burch then said she called the police but officers refused to arrest the man because "there were no visible bruises" on the girl.

Burch said a local police sergeant told her the man, "has the right to discipline his children."

Photos Burch took of the incident have been shared more than 130,000 times and commented on nearly 5,000 times as of Wednesday morning.

Clint Davis is a reporter for the Scripps National News Desk. Follow him on Twitter @MrClintDavis.