In an unusual coincidence, a man died from a snakebite after travelling to attend his brother's funeral - who had been killed by another snake only days before.
Govind Mishra, 22, was fatally attacked in his sleep by the reptile after making a long journey to his elder sibling's last rites in Bhawanipur village in India.
His brother, 38-year-old Arvind Mishra, died last Tuesday and his funeral was held a day later on Wednesday, reports Indian news agency PTI.
Police confirmed Govind's death on Thursday in an incident that also saw another family member bitten while sleeping in the same property.
Officer Radha Raman Singh said: “Govind Mishara was killed after being bitten by a snake in his sleep.
"One of the relatives of the family, Chandrashekar Pandey, 22, who was in the same house, was also bitten by a snake.
He added that Chandrashekar remained in hospital in a critical condition.
The pair had travelled to the village together from Ludhiana in Punjab, around 50 miles away.
Kailash Nath Shukla, a member of the local legislative assembly, visited the grieving families and asked officials to take measures to prevent future incidents like Govind's.
It it unconfirmed which type of snake killed him but in India the 'big four' include the common krait, saw scaled viper, Russell's viper and Indian cobra.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) they account for around 90% of all snakebites in the country and it is estimated that between 81,000 and 138,000 deaths occur every year in India.
Depending on the size of the snake, the invertebrate animals also have the potential to crush people to death.
In Pennsylvania, US a man died in July after being strangled by his 18-foot pet snake.
Police were called out to the property and shot the boa constrictor dead but Elliot Senseman, 27, died in hospital four days after the incident.
