Hundreds of young men in India's Bihar state have been made to strip
down to their underwear while appearing for an army recruitment test in
an attempt to prevent cheating
Photographs showed candidates sitting cross-legged in a field in Muzaffarpur town wearing only their underpants.
The army said it was done to "save time on checking so many students".
A candidate told The Indian Express newspaper that he felt "it was not dignified".
Officials said 1,159 candidates participated in Sunday's hour-long written examination to join the Indian army.
"As we entered Chakkar Maidan, the venue, we were asked to remove all
clothes except underwear. We had no option but to comply with the
instructions even though it felt odd. The gap between candidates was
about eight feet in all directions," The Indian Express quoted a
candidate as saying.
The paper quoted a senior army official as saying candidates being asked to strip was an "administrative lapse".
Bihar and many other parts of northern India are notorious for
cheating during examinations - last year, the state government was
embarrassed after parents and friends were photographed climbing school
walls to pass on answers to school students.
In January, the state announced tough measures such as fines and jail terms to stop cheating in exams.
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