A man has been arrested and accused of killing his four-year-old daughter because she did not notice her head scarf slip from her head while eating lunch.

Jafar Hussain, from the town of Bareilly, in Uttar Pradesh, India, is alleged to have killed his daughter Farheen by repeatedly throwing her against the ground after he flew into a rage.

According to The Hindustan Times, his wife - who is also the girl's mother - attempted to intervene but was unable to stop the killing and suffered a beating herself.

Jafar Hussain, from the town of Bareilly (pictured), stands accused of killing his four-year-old daughter

He then asked her to bury her daughter's body inside the house, which she refused to do.

Jafar's neighbours in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh described him as mentally unstable and a staunchly religious person, who was obsessive when it came to screening women from men, the International Business Times reported.

Brijesh Srivastava, the superintendent of police, said: 'We have arrested the father for killing his daughter and we are questioning him about the incident.

'The body of the minor has been sent for post-mortem.'

It was claimed his daughter failed to realise her dupatta - a traditional head scarf worn by Muslims - had fallen from her head.

If Jafar is convicted, it would mark the latest act of religious violence in a region where such acts occur with concerning regularity.

Earlier this year, a Pakistani man and his father were arrested for a so-called 'honour killing' after they set the son's wife alight for leaving the house without asking his permission.

Muhammad Siddique became enraged on learning that his wife, Shabana Bibi, 25, had visited her sister without first asking him if she could go out, her brother Muhammad Azam said.

Siddique and his father then beat Bibi before dousing her with petrol and setting her on fire in Central Pakistan's Muzaffargarh district, he claimed.