Four female students who appeared in a viral video of an assault on two young girls in Sichuan province have been forced to apologize and their families ordered to pay compensation, police said on Wednesday.

The group - identified as Li, Liu and Zhao, all 14, and Zhang, 13 - were taken into custody after an investigation into footage filmed on Friday that showed the victims being repeatedly slapped and kicked.

According to the local authorities, the video was recorded outside a high school attended by the victims in Longfeng town, which forms part of Pengzhou. The suspects attend other schools in the area.