The Metropolitan Police have defended officers who manhandled a number of female mourners at a vigil for Sarah Everard.

According to the Guardian, a large number of women's rights protestors and mourners gathered on Clapham Common in London on the evening of Saturday, March 13, to pay tribute to the 33-year-old marketing executive, whose body was found earlier this week.

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Officers at the scene were seen aggressively grabbing and arresting a number of women at the event for supposedly violating COVID-19 social distancing regulations.

Photos taken of the altercations have since gone viral and prompted calls for the resignation of Scotland Yard chief Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick over her handling of the incident, reports the Metro.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has also spoken out to criticize the Met Police for its perceived excessive force.

Khan wrote: "The scenes from Clapham Common are unacceptable. The police have a responsibility to enforce Covid laws but from images I've seen, it's clear the response was at times neither appropriate nor proportionate.

"I'm [in] contact with the Commissioner & urgently seeking an explanation."

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Defending the police arrests in a press conference held on the morning of Sunday, March 14, Assistant Commissioner Helen Ball stated per The Metro:

"Hundreds of people were packed tightly together, posing a very real risk of easily transmitting Covid-19.

"Police must act for people’s safety, this is the only responsible thing to do. The pandemic is not over and gatherings of people from right across London and beyond, are still not safe.

"Those who gathered were spoken to by officers on a number of occasions and over an extended period of time. We repeatedly encouraged those who were there to comply with the law and leave.

"Regrettably, a small minority of people began chanting at officers, pushing and throwing items."

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Commenting on the incident, the feminist activist group Reclaim These Streets has since posted an official statement of its own on Twitter, with a spokesperson writing:

"We women across the country are deeply saddened and angered by the scenes of police officers physically manhandling women at a vigil against male violence."

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The statement continued: "This week of all weeks the police should have understood that women need a place to mourn, reflect, and show solidarity.

"Now is the time for the police and the government to recognize that the criminal justice system is failing women. Tonight, it has failed women again, in the most destructive way.

"We will keep fighting for women's voices to be heard and to matter."

Met Police defends officers who manhandled women at Sarah Everard vigil