A stray bull stunned mourners by turning up to "pay homage" at a dead monkey’s funeral in Raibag in southern India.

A wild monkey, which lived in the town, died of electric shock on May 10. As monkeys are considered sacred in the Hindu religion, a few local men decided to give it a human funeral.

They cleaned and garlanded the dead monkey with flowers, and placed it on a chair on a road where it lived.

As people from the neighbourhood turned up to pay homage, a stray bull also joined them.

It stood in front of the monkey quietly for 10 minutes staring at it and then went away.

A local youth Suresh Naik said: “The bull and the monkey lived on the same street and were used to each other. They would often share bananas given by vegetable vendors here.”

“I don’t know what went on in the bull’s mind when it stood there,” he added.

A stray bull stunned mourners by turning up to pay homage at a dead monkey’s funeral in Raibag in Southern India.

A wild monkey, which lived in the town, died of electric shock on May 10. As monkeys are considered sacred in Hindu religion, a few local men decided to give it a human funeral.

They cleaned and garlanded the dead monkey with flowers, and placed it on a chair on a road where it lived.

As people from the neighbourhood turned up to pay homage, a stray bull also joined them.

It stood solemnly in front of the monkey quietly for 10 minutes staring at it and then went away.

A local youth Suresh Naik said: “The bull and the monkey lived on the same street and were used to each other. They would often share bananas given by vegetable vendors here.”

“I don’t know what went on in the bull’s mind when it stood there,” he added.