This is the moving moment a grieving monkey sits with mourners as they mark the death of a farmer who had befriended him in India.

The monkey came to the family home in Gondhia village, in Uttar Pradesh, on 10th September following the farmer’s death and immediately joined grieving relatives, according to local media.

First, he reportedly lifted a shroud over Chandanlal Verma’s face and stared at his face for a long time, apparently convincing himself he was dead.

Then he prostrated himself, pressing his chest and arms into the ground, as can be seen in the first piece of footage.

A second video shows the monkey joining mourners as they sit before the farmer’s body, paying their respects.

The primate sits quietly beside the man’s friends and family and at one point rests a hand on one woman’s knee as if to comfort her.

Family member Sudhir Verma told local media that the farmer used to spend all day in his fields in a hut watching over his crops and protecting them from animals.

While he sat there, she said, he shared his food with the monkey every day.

They said that the monkey repeatedly placed its head on the floor, occasionally returning to Verma’s side and looking at his body before eventually returning to the forest.

Local media said the unusual behaviour was a clear sign that monkeys can be more intelligent and sensitive than some humans.