Police have arrested a man in connection with an alleged rape in central Amsterdam during the King’s Day celebrations.

The assault took place between two parked cars on the Keizersgracht canal and was filmed by passers-by. Footage of the incident has since been widely circulated on social media.

It has now emerged that a group of women who witnessed the assault tried to intervene by kicking the attacker away from the victim and also alerted the police.

This intervention was also filmed and appears to have prompted the police to launch an investigation. Police said from the start the incident “could have been a sexual assault”.

The victim, who Dutch media say knew the suspect, has not yet filed an official complaint but has made a statement, according to the Parool. Several witnesses have also come forward.

Both the police and Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema have called on the public to stop sharing the footage. Circulating the video is illegal and “degrading and hurtful” for the victim, Halsema said.

In Dutch law having sex with someone who cannot give consent, for example because they are drunk, is considered rape. It is also an offence to film people having sex and circulate it without express permission.