A 25-year-old Indonesian man was found dead inside the belly of a 23-foot python after he went missing for a day. Akbar Salubiro disappeared on March 26, 2017, on the island of Sulawesi after leaving to harvest palm oil.
Discovery of the Body
Villagers reported Akbar missing after he failed to return home. Police conducted a search and found a large snake near the family's palm plantation. A video shot by police showed the snake being cut open, revealing Akbar's still-clothed body inside.
The snake was a reticulated python, the longest snake species in the world. It likely suffocated Akbar before swallowing him whole, though such attacks on humans are rare.
Witness Accounts
One villager said: "They didn't find him (Akbar), but the villagers saw an unmoving python in the ditch. They grew suspicious that maybe the snake had Akbar. When they cut it open, Akbar was inside the snake."
Village secretary Salubiro Junaidi told The Jakarta Post: "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. Resident[s] cut open the belly of the snake and Akbar was lifeless."
Expert Insight and Similar Incident
Nia Kurniawan, from Brawijaya University, said a python of this size would hunt for large prey such as animals and primates. These snakes can grow up to 32 feet in length and are often treated as sacred in parts of Indonesia and Southeast Asia.
In 2018, a 54-year-old woman named Wa Tiba was found dead inside a 23-foot snake in Indonesia. She had gone out to garden and failed to return. Her sons found the snake with a bulging belly barely able to move, near where her sandals were discovered. She had been swallowed head first. Eye-witness Ayu Kartika said: "Everyone was crying, everybody was shocked. The poor woman. This is like a horror movie. People are terrified. We are scared to go outside. We can only pray for safety."
