A man was killed after a group of monkeys threw bricks at him from a tree, according to reports. 72-year-old Dharampal Singh suffered head and chest injuries in the attack and was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

Singh was collecting pieces of dry wood when the group of "rogue" monkeys launched their attack on Thursday in Uttar Pradesh, India. The monkeys reportedly got the bricks from a rundown building nearby. 

People from the village have repeatedly complained about aggressive monkeys in the area but, as protected species, very little can be done.

Singh’s brother Krishnapal told The Times of India, "The monkeys threw more than 20 bricks at Dharampal on Thursday. Thrown from quite a height, the bricks were enough to kill him. These rogue monkeys are the real culprits and must pay for it."

Singh's family has lodged a formal complaint and named the monkeys as the accused but police insisted they cannot prosecute monkeys and have declared Singh’s death an accident.

Chitwan Singh, station officer at Doghat police station, said; "How can we register the case against monkeys? This will make us a laughing stock," he said.

Fatal attacks by monkeys have been on rise throughout India and wildlife experts say that monkeys belonging to the rhesus macaques species are usually to blame. Back in 2007, the deputy mayor of India's capital, Delhi, died after being attacked by a horde of wild monkeys. 

SS Bajwa suffered serious head injuries when he fell from the first-floor terrace of his home trying to fight the monkeys off. However, it is not clear which breed attacked Singh.

In an attempt to curb the monkey problem, the city 'employed' larger, more ferocious langur monkeys to go after the smaller rhesus macaques. The city has also employed monkey catchers to round the monkeys up so they can be moved to forests.

Culling of monkeys is unacceptable to devout Hindus who revere the monkeys as an incarnation of the monkey god Hanuman and often feed them bananas and peanuts.