Students were shocked when they found a cobra slithering across the books at a university library in India.

The students were browsing the bookshelves when they found the 8ft serpent lying on top of the reference materials at the Mahatma Gandhi University library in Telangana state, on February 11.

They panicked and screamed, prompting security guards to rush inside. The officers then dragged the cobra to the floor and beat it to death with a stick.

Footage shows the guards pulling the snake's dead body across the tiled floor, its blood leaving a streak of red behind it. It was thrown into a sack and disposed of in a rubbish bin.

India is home to several cobra species which are revered in Hindu mythology and often depicted in folklore. The venomous snakes play a crucial role in the ecosystem by controlling rodent populations but are also responsible for many bite incidents across the country.