A SIKH man has been widely praised for ignoring the strict rules of his faith to remove his turban and put it under the head of a hurt child.

Harman Singh, 22, heard car wheels screeching and then a commotion outside his home in Takanini in Auckland, New Zealand, and went to investigate.

“I saw a child down on the ground and a lady was holding him. His head was bleeding, so I unveiled my turban and put it under his head,” Singh, a student, told the New Zealand Herald.

“I wasn’t thinking about the turban. I was thinking about the accident and I just thought, ‘He needs something on his head because he’s bleeding’. That’s my job — to help.

“And I think anyone else would have done the same as me.”

Singh and other members of the public, including the boy Daejon Pahia’s mother Shiralee who arrived shortly after the accident, stayed with the boy until emergency services arrived.

Daejon was on his way to school with his older sister when he was hit by the car.

Another Sikh Gagan Dhillon was on his way to work when he saw the accident and also stopped to help.

“There was enough help as there was, but being a Sikh myself, I know what type of respect the turban has. People just don’t take it off — people die over it,” he said.

“I saw him (Harman Singh) with no head covering and thought, ‘That’s strange’. But then I saw one hand was underneath the boy’s head supporting it and his siropao (turban) was stopping the bleeding.

“He didn’t care that his head was uncovered in public. He just wanted to help this little boy.”

Daejon suffered a fractured skull, a lacerated kidney and 12 deep head wouinds. He was said to be in a stable condition after surgery in Starship Hospital in Grafton, Auckland.

Singh broke strict Sikh religious protocol by removing his turban but his actions have been widely praised. Daejon’s mother Shiralee thanked him personally.

“I just really want to thank him because I know it’s against his religion to take that kind of stuff off so I just really want to thank him because if it wasn’t for him my son wouldn’t be here,” she told the New Zealand Herald.

Singh has received thousands of messages and comments on his Facebook page.

“Great symbol of — we are all human beings. We have our individual beliefs, but at the end of the day to care for one another is key,” Ashleigh Garrett said on Facebook.

“This is why I have high respect for the Sikhism faith. Awesome job mate!,” another person commented.

“Humanity before religion. Nice one buddy,” said another.

Mr Singh, from India, who is studying a business course in Auckland, said he was overwhelmed with all the praise.

“Thousands of people have said ‘well done’. I was only doing what I had to and trying to be a decent member of the community,” he said.

“Thanks to all who messages, calls ... thanks all the worldwide Facebook members who messaged me. I think I just did my job nothing else.”

There are more than 22,000 Sikhs living in Australia.