This is the moment Indian villagers hang a drowned man upside-down from a tree and swing his corpse around in front of cops in a failed attempt to remove water from his lungs and return him to life.

The incident was filmed in the village of Jogipura in Guna District in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh on 23rd August.

According to the local police, the victim, named as Bhanwarlal Banjara from the neighbouring village of Bansaheda, drowned in a river while bathing.

Local residents called the police and officers arrived on the scene to retrieve the body with the help of other villagers.

Locals then hung the body upside-down from a tree so excess water could leave the man’s lungs.

The police said the villagers believed the man was still breathing and could possibly be saved by draining the water.

Police spokesperson Toran Singh said: “I persuaded them against doing that, but they didn’t listen to me and hung the body from the branch of a tree anyway.”

They reportedly shook and swung the man’s corpse for around half an hour in front of police officers who filmed the scenes with their phones.

Officers eventually convinced the villagers that the man was dead and took his body away for an autopsy.