Judges said he deserved public punishment and that it was 'very fitting'

The 23-year-old man complained to local judges, who rejected his claim

Policewoman and alleged victims then smacked his backside in public

A man accused of sexually harassing several young women in central India received an unorthodox punishment for his alleged crimes.

Virat Dhoni was forced to bend over in the middle of a public street after which a female police officer and his accusers, a group of teenage girls, smacked his backside.

The 23-year-old had been accused of wolf whistling and cat calling the teenage schoolgirls in Sendhwa, in India's Madhya Pradesh state.

Justice served: One of the teenage girls who accused Virat Dhoni of catcalling her, smack her 23-year-old harrasser with her shoe as her friends are lined up, waiting their turn

The teenagers complained to Police Sub-inspector Monica Singh, who seized Mr Dhoni and carried out the humiliating punishment before letting the accusing teenage girls also spank Mr Dhoni.

'I had a choice,' Police Sub-inspector Singh said.

'I could take him to court and watch as he wriggled off the hook, or I could hand out some justice then and there.'

Mr Dhoni then complained to local judges, saying the public spanking was humiliating and that he should have been charged and taken to court before any punishment was carried out.

Public punishment: Police Sub-inspector Monica Singh seized Mr Dhoni and carried out the punishment with the help of the schoolgirls in the middle of the street

Backed by the court: Mr Dhoni complained to local judges, who rejected his claim saying he deserved public punishment and that it was 'very fitting' for his 'crime'

He said: 'I felt shamed by standing there while these women hit me. I hadn't laid a finger on them and it is not a policewoman's job to decide who is and who is not guilty.'

But judges in Madhya Pradesh rejected his claim, saying Mr Dhoni had deserved the beating and would not have got off with a simple slap on the wrist if the courts had dealt with the case.

The ruling said: 'He had tormented his victims in public with his whistling and cat calls, and he was punished in public.