A wife suffocated to death after being buried in cow dung to treat a snake bite by a snake charmer in India.

The 35-year-old woman, named as Devendri, was out collecting wood for her fire when a snake bit her on the hand in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh, northern India.

She ran home to tell her husband, Mukesh, and the pair decided to call a local snake charmer called Murarey, who suggested his bizarre treatment may succeed in sucking out the poison.

The local snake charmer suggested his bizarre dung treatment may succeed in sucking out the poison.

Villagers gathered outside the house and watched as Mukesh covered Devendri in cow dung.

The snake charmer sat beside her and chanted mantras but after 75 minutes Devendri died.