A woman who urinated in a council office has been praised by politicians for highlighting the poor state of public toilets.

The Telegraph of Calcutta says Deepa Murkunde had to spend a day in jail after she was spotted urinating at a civic office in Margao in the Indian state of Goa.

Ms Murkunde says she carried out the act to protest about the unhygienic conditions in public toilets. The paper says she was arrested for trespass and causing damage to public property.

A municipal official lodged a complaint with the police accusing her of "not only soiling her office, but also her uniform, which was lying on a chair".