A Sikh man has been praised after using his turban to save the life of a drowning dog.

Sarwan Singh, 28, spotted a crowd of onlookers looking at the stricken animal as he was driving past an irrigation canal in India’s Punjab region.

Mr Singh decided to act and used his holy garments to lower himself towards the canal and drag the dog out.

Mr Singh said: “I stopped my car and went over to check what was happening. I was shocked to see that there was a dog drowning but no was actually helping.”

“The moment I started taking off my turban, people watching around were shocked. They thought I was disrespecting my faith,” he added, “but what was important at that point was to save the animal’s life.”

The Sikh dastaar – as the headwear is known – is worn by Sikhs out of love and obedience to the wishes of the founders of their faith. The Sikh Coalition describes it as having “an immense spiritual as well as temporal significance.”

Punjab, where the video was filmed, is the birthplace of Sikhism.

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Mr Singh added: “The dog wasn’t comfortable. He was not coming to me at all. We had to follow him for around 200 metres before I was able to wrap my turban around his neck and pull him to safety.”

“He was frightened, so I fed him some biscuits and let him go on his own.”

His actions were praised by others on social media. “This is the true faith - being humane,” said Sanjay Kapur.

"Respect to Sarwan Singh for his kindness," said Michael Nash