A Forty-year-old man was arrested after local newspapers in Uttar Pradesh published photos taken by passers-by. He has now been freed on bail. Onlookers accuse the man of cruelty - he says his daughter had an exam and was reluctant to go to school. The incident comes at a time when Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a huge campaign to educate girls in the country. It took place in a village in the district of Mathura. The man, a father of two sons and three daughters, works as a security guard at a private school.

Police say he tried to persuade the girl, his youngest child, to go to school, particularly since she had a test to write. The child was promised sweets and gifts, but when she refused to relent, her angry father tied her to the back of his bike with ropes and took her to school.The man has been charged with breach of peace, Mathura superintendent of police Shailesh Pandey said.

The man spent a day in the cells but still believes he did the right thing. "My daughter will not die if I take her to school. But she will surely die if she does not study." The country has a female literacy rate of 64%, compared with 81% for men. The Prime Minister has recently launched a campaign ‘beti bhachao beti padhao’ asking parents to educate their girls. Campaigners say going to school is still a distant dream for many girls, especially in rural India, and that many parents think it is not necessary to educate their daughters.