A woman stunned villagers in south India after she saved a trapped snake and put on a bizarre act of singing and dancing with it.<br /><br />The woman, Shivamma, of Hirebaganala village near Koppala, Karnataka, was passing by on January 6 when she saw a few men trying to kill a snake that had entered the courtyard of a local temple. <br /><br />She intervened and caught the snake, saving its life. However instead of releasing it in the wild, she wrapped it around her neck and went inside the temple. <br /><br />People then watched in amazement as she sang, danced and worshipped the local deity, believed to be a manifestation of Hindu God Shiva.<br /><br />She then went around the village visiting several sacred spots till her husband came and took her home. The snake was released in the wild. <br /><br />Many villagers believed that the woman had had a spiritual experience when she danced with the snake. <br /><br />“She is not a snake catcher, just a normal woman. The snake did not resist her, obeyed all her commands. There was a divine touch to it," said Mallikarjun, a resident of a nearby village who went to Hirebaganala to see the ‘miracle.’ <br /><br />Noted snake expert Subhendu Mallik said: “It was a harmless rat snake protected under Indian Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Torturing it is a crime under the act.”
