Indian man claims he chopped off his own finger after voting for wrong party

An Indian voter says he chopped off his own finger after casting his ballot for the wrong political party.

Pawan Kumar said he was confused by the various symbols on the electronic voting machine and mistakenly pushed the button for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose symbol is the lotus, when he turned up to vote at a polling booth in the state of Uttar Pradesh on 18th April.

Kumar says he had intended to cast his ballot for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), whose symbol is the elephant.

After they cast their ballots, Indian voters' index fingers are marked with indelible ink to prevent people from voting more than once.

Kumar was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.