Baby monkey tries to wake dead mother after she was hit by car

This is the heartbreaking moment a baby monkey was spotted crying over its dead mother’s body.

The mother was knocked down while it was crossing the road between the towns of Bareilly and Budaun in Uttar Pradesh, northern India.

Footage shows the inconsolable animal crying and screaming over its mum’s body while hugging her.

A man can be heard saying: ‘The mother is dead, what to do with the baby’.

Another man replies: ‘Leave her in the jungle some monkey may find it.’

The baby refused to let go of its mother and only moved when a passerby dragged the body away.

A local said: ‘A villager who also was on the spot later took it to be buried with last rites as monkeys are considered to be in the shape of the monkey god Hanuman and any dead monkey is buried with religious rites.’

The baby monkey was rescued by the Uttar Pradesh government’s forest department.