Hasia, 66, was returning from her job at a rubber plantation in Indonesia’s South Sulawesi on Tuesday when the snake leapt from the tall grass, dragged her to the ground and swallowed her whole
Python swallows grandmother in Indonesia
This is the gruesome moment a grandmother was found in the belly of a massive python in Indonesia. Hasia, 66, was walking home from work at a rubber plantation when the beast pounced on her in South Sulawesi on Tuesday afternoon. The snake is believed to have leaped from the tall grass and clamped down on her leg, causing her to fall. Hasia battled to escape from its slimy grip, but the beast squeezed her to death while swallowing her whole.
Hasia’s son, Nurdin, said the worried family launched a search when night fell and the elderly villager still hadn’t returned. They scoured the dense vegetation before stumbling upon the giant 26ft snake with a grotesquely swollen belly at around 9pm.
Footage shows the suspicious locals hacking the enormous serpent to death as it was weighed down by the large ‘human-shaped’ bulge in its stomach. They cut the beast open, and their fears were confirmed when they found Hasia’s slime-covered corpse 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 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 – often with the pythons coming out on top.
In a similar case last year, a man found a massive python coiled around his wife as it tried to swallow her “head first” after trying to squeeze her to death in Indonesia. Hapsah, 57, was working at a rubber tree plantation in Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi province, when the snake lying in the tall grass attacked her on August 27. The 16ft reptile wrapped itself around her body and slowly squeezed the breath out of her lungs until she died.
The victim’s husband M Safri, 66, who worked in the same plantation, went looking for his wife when she failed to return home that afternoon. He heard rustling noises in the undergrowth and was horrified to find the reptile coiled around the woman as it prepared to swallow her whole.
Sungai Gelam Police Chief Iptu Usaha Sitepu said: “When he approached the source of the sound, he saw that the victim had been constricted to death by a python and was about to be swallowed head-first. He knew she was already dead, so he could only pull at the snake’s tail and hit it until it loosened its grip.”