A motorist rides his motorbike between cars on a main road
A motorist rides his motorbike between cars on a main road in Jakarta December 16, 2014. Reuters/Beawiharta

A Sikh hailing from New Zealand, Harman Singh grabbed the world's attention when he broke religious protocol for helping an accident victim. Singh took off his turban to help a child who was bleeding profusely after a road accident in Takanini, South Auckland.

The boy named Daejon Pahia, just six years old was grievously wounded on being hit by a four-wheel drive and was lying on the roadside when he caught Harman's attention, according to the newspaper New Zealand Herald. He was going to school with his sister when the bad accident occurred. Daejon was immediately rushed to hospital where he received emergency surgery.According to a hospital spokesperson,“He had multiple injuries but is in a stable condition and has a period of recovery in front of him.”

The 22-year-old young Sikh was in his house on Friday when he heard tyres screeching and ran outside. On seeing the child who was a stranger to him, Singh immediately unturbaned himself and kept the cloth beneath the child's bleeding head.

Singh said, "Total strangers are asking to be friends on Facebook and 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 earned worldwide acclaim for this heroic deed and several messages came pouring in from across the world commending his act. Singh's Facebook account is loaded with messages from the U.S., Europe and India. And several Twitter posts are also coming rushing in. His story is being shared tens of thousands of times via the social media platform.

Singh's image caught at the scene shows him gently cradling the child’s head as a member of the emergency services tends to him.“When I saw the little boy was bleeding I decided... I would take the turban off and use it. Anyone would have done the same,” he told the newspaper.

The writer can be contacted at ritambanati@yahoo.com