By Daily Mail (World News) | Created at 2025-04-02 11:15:19 | Updated at 2025-04-04 06:07:24
1 day ago
This is the horrifying moment a python's bulging stomach appeared to wriggle - before a family found their grandmother swallowed whole inside.
The anxious family of a missing woman tracked the snake down to a patch of dense vegetation in South Sulawesi, Indonesia yesterday afternoon.
Locals feared for the worst when they saw the 26ft serpent weighed down by a large bulge in its stomach.
Slashing into the snake, they found the body of 66-year-old Hasia, who had vanished while walking home from her job at a rubber plantation.
The snake is believed to have pounced from the tall grass and clamped down on her leg, causing her to fall.
Hasia battled to escape from its grip, but was squeezed to death while being swallowed whole, it was reported locally.
Her son, Nurdin, said the worried family launched a search when night fell and the elderly villager still hadn't returned.
Horrified family members found the snake with a hugely inflated stomach in the dense grass
After cutting into it they found Hasia's body inside, apparently swallowed whole
Hasia, 66, was walking home from work when she was attacked by the massive snake
They scoured the area before stumbling upon the snake at around 9pm.
They cut the reptile open, and found Hasia's body in its stomach.
Horrified Nurdin said: 'At first we were worried because she didn't come home, even in the afternoon.
'We were concerned she had become lost or injured herself at work.
'Then we looked for her in the plantation until around 9 pm, when we found a large python lying still on the grass.
'This was devastating. I know it was a painful death for my mother.
'Even though the snake is dead, it is no consolation. It will never bring her back. Now, we are saying prayers for her to be at peace.'
The family have recovered Hasia's body to prepare for a funeral today, in accordance with Islamic beliefs.
Ipda Zakaria, Pitu Riase Police Chief, said: 'Currently, the victim is at the funeral home.
'Due to this incident, we are urging residents to be more careful when traveling through the plantation area, because it is known to be inhabited by large pythons.
'They are aggressive and will attack humans, because it is an easy food source for them.'
Indonesia has a large population of pythons living in its lush forests. The plentiful sources of food have allowed them to grow particularly large.
However, increasing urbanisation and the rise in palm oil farms and rubber plantations has lead to increasing conflict with humans.
The 26ft python seen after being caught and attacked by the band of worried locals
Hasia's body was recovered and taken to a funeral home, police confirmed
The tragedy is only the latest in a string of clashes between humans and snakes in Indonesia
Late last year, locals recovered the body of an Indonesian farmer from the belly of a 23ft python that crushed him and also swallowed him whole.
Father-of-three Peco, 30, went into a palm plantation to collect sap for making brown sugar when the reptile pounced on him in North Luwu Regency.
Peco's worried brother-in-law Wawan went out looking for his relative when he failed to return to his home in the Mamea hamlet in the village of Malimbu, Sabbang district.
The relative spotted the snake with bulging guts and rushed back to raise the alarm.
Village chiefs arrived and sliced open the reptile to reveal the corpse of the palm plantation farm hand shortly before midnight.
Wawan said: 'We used to joke that we could be eaten by a snake at night. They are a danger that everyone knows about.
'I cannot explain how my brother was caught by one. He was very experienced.'
