'They must pay for it': Monkeys blamed for killing Indian villager by throwing bricks

A group of monkeys is being blamed for the death of a 72-year-old man in a village in India.

Dharampal Singh was collecting pieces of wood for a fire in Baghpat in Uttar Pradesh when bricks were thrown at him by the monkeys, said police.

They found the missiles at a dilapidated building nearby and were hurling them from treetops, according to the Times Of India.

Mr Singh was hit on the head and in the chest.

His family accused the monkeys – rhesus macaques - in a formal complaint, although police registered it as an accident.

Hi mother said up to 20 bricks were thrown.

“These rogue monkeys are the real culprits and must pay for it,” she told the Times Of India.

Villages were quoted saying the monkeys have been making life difficult for residents, with no solution in sight.

Police described the death as a “bizarre incident”.