A 72-year-old man Dharampal Singh, has died in India after a group of monkeys threw bricks at him from a tree.

Singh had been collecting pieces of dry wood before the incident in Tikri, Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

Police said monkeys rained bricks on the man from a treetop after collecting them from a nearby dilapidated building, the Times of India reported.

The elderly man later died in hospital from sustained head and chest injuries.

Villagers have repeatedly complained about aggressive monkeys in the area, but the animals are a protected species.

Mr Singh’s family are said to have put in a formal complaint about the incident to police.

The victim’s brother reportedly told the newspaper: “Monkeys threw more than 20 bricks at Dharampal on Thursday.”

He said they will now meet senior officials and request them to initiate action in this regard.

Brother of the deceased, Krishnapal Singh, said:

“These rogue monkeys are the real culprits and must pay for it. We have given a written complaint against the monkeys but the police don’t seem to be convinced enough.”

The local chief of police, Chitwan Singh, responded to pressure from the deceased’s family in disbelief.

He said:

“How can we register the case against monkeys? This will make us a laughing stock! I don’t think it is a logical demand.

“We are were informed of the bizarre accident and registered it in our case diary after which a post-mortem was also conducted.”