New Delhi - An Indian woman chopped the head off a man who attempted to rape her and then paraded his head through a village in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, police and news reports said Friday.

Police arrested the 35-year-woman on Thursday night after villagers in the Ishanagar area in Lakhimpur district - some 120 kilometers south-east of state capital Lucknow - called the police.

"The woman had gone to fields to gather fodder for cattle, when the man attempted to rape her," Lakhimpur district police chief Ram Bharose said by telephone.

"She beheaded the man with the sickle in order to save her dignity," Bharose added.

The woman suffered injuries and bite marks on her face and neck while trying to fight off the attacker.

Police denied that the woman paraded the severed head through the village.

But the PTI news agency quoted state officials as saying she roamed the village with the head, telling people that she took the step to save herself.

"The woman says she has no regrets in killing the man who was stalking her for the past few weeks," Bharose said, adding that she could be charged with culpable homicide under the Indian Penal Code. (dpa)