A boy accused of having sex with a cow was forced to marry the beast despite his protestations that the cow seduced him with honeyed words.

The 18-year-old, a resident of the island of Bali in Indonesia, was spotted interfering with a cow whilst naked in a paddy field.

He allegedly admitted the act, but claimed the animal was at fault because it seduced him by making flattering comments.

Village elders decided the only way for him to make penance for this unnatural act was to marry the cow.

It is not clear whether they accepted his explanation about the encounter being the result of bovine flattery.

The marriage ceremony was duly held in font of an audience of several hundred, with the boy fainting from shame.

Unlike a conventional marriage ceremony, the unfortunate bride was subsequently taken to a river and drowned, with the boy escaping with a symbolic dunking.