A man who has claimed he can't afford to buy a toilet has been told to sell his wife.

Toilet

Toilet

An Indian official has reportedly urged villagers who are unable to raise enough cash to build loos to sell their spouses.

Kanwal Tanuj, a magistrate from the district of Bihar, called for those gathered to obey the campaign's sanitation standards in order to safeguard the dignity of women, according to the Indian Express.

He said: ''Save the dignity of your women if you can. How poor are you?''

But when a man said he was too poor, he replied: ''If that is the case then go and sell your wife. If this is the mentality you have then go and sell your wife. So many people talk about advance payment, they get advance and then spend it on useless things.''

The Clean India Mission - known formerly as the Swach Bharat Abhiyan - is a scheme launched by the Government of India to clean the country's 4,041 statutory cities and towns.