Video shows Nigerian man tied up and brutally beaten by mob in Delhi

Police say he had been caught attempting to rob a house

Disturbing video footage has emerged of a man being tied up and beaten by a mob, before he was taken to a police station in the Indian city of Delhi.

As he begs and screams for mercy, a group of men hit the victim, thought to be a Nigerian student, with sticks and rods.

Another man can be seen holding a rope which has been tied around the man's ankles. He then wraps it around a pole.

The man reportedly cries out “forgive me” as his attackers strike.The footage was obtained Indian TV station, NDTV.

The man was allegedly found trying to rob someone's house in the Malviya Nagar district of south Delhi on 24 September.

Police arrested him after the attack and he was later sent to jail.

The man was barely conscious when he was handed to the authorities, NDTV reported. Locals allegedly told authorities he had become injured when attempting to escape the property by falling down a set of stairs.

Delhi police have registered a separate case of assault since the footage emerged and promised to identify and punish the people involved in the attack, according to the Hindustan Times. Police have denied the attack was racially motivated.

Special Commissioner Dependra Pathak told the newspaper: “It was a case of attempted theft and the suspect was caught by locals."

He added that the man was "medically examined as he had injuries.”