Kolkata, India - A woman rushed to voodoo practitioners after being bitten by a snake died and her decomposed body was set sail in a river in West Bengal, media reports said.
The practitioners failed to revive Bharati Munda who died in the Sundarbans area in 24 Parganas district. A snake bit her Aug 9.
Distraught villagers first took her to a voodoo practitioner instead of a hospital.
But her condition deteriorated and she was taken to the Sarberia Christian Missionary Hospital where she died.
The woman's body was brought back to the village and another voodoo practitioner began rituals to revive the dead.
However, after some days when the body decomposed and stench filled the air, the villagers gave up.
The body was finally set sail on a raft made from banana stem in line with local beliefs.
"We don't cremate the bodies of those who die of snake bite. We float them in the river on rafts," said a villager.