Man found dead inside belly of python

JAKARTA • An Indonesian man has been found dead inside the belly of a 7m-long python, according to a local media report.

Mr Akbar Salubiro had not been seen since setting off to harvest palm oil in a remote village on the island of Sulawesi. The 25-year-old, a father of two, had been missing since Sunday.

Village secretary Salubiro Junaidi said yesterday that the search party found scattered palm oil fruit, a picking tool and a boot, and then spotted the engorged 7m-long reticulated python.

The python was sprawled out next to the garden, with Mr Akbar's boots clearly visible in its stomach, according to tribunsulbar.com

Villagers then used a large knife to cut open the snake's belly, revealing the body of the missing man.

Horrifying video footage shows the corpse being removed slowly from the killer reptile as the leathery skin is peeled away.

Video footage shows the body of Mr Akbar being removed as the python's leathery skin is cut open and peeled away.
Video footage shows the body of Mr Akbar being removed as the python's leathery skin is cut open and peeled away. SCREENGRAB: YOUTUBE

Mr Akbar's neighbour, Satriawan, said: "He was found in the location of the garden. Initially Akbar set out from his home to go to harvest palm. After not returning to his home, people looked for him."

Mr Akbar's wife, Munu, was away at the time and found out only when pictures and videos emerged in the news, Tribun Timur said.

Mr Junaidi said: "People had heard cries from the palm grove the night before Akbar was found in the snake's stomach.

"When the snake was captured, the boots Akbar was wearing were clearly visible in the stomach of the snake. Residents cut open the belly of the snake and Akbar was lifeless."

Reticulated pythons - the longest snakes in the world - suffocate their victims before swallowing them whole, reports said.

Pythons' jaws are connected by very flexible ligaments so they can stretch around large prey.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on March 30, 2017, with the headline Man found dead inside belly of python. Subscribe