[dropcap]R[/dropcap]obert Nababn came across the beast as he travelled home from work on his moped.
The snake was blocking the road in Indragiri Hulu Regency of Riau Province in Sumatra, Indonesia.
The 37-year-old security guard decided to step in and move the reptile, but he was forced into a wrestling match with the python in the middle of the road.
Pedestrians looked on in horror as the colossal snake bit his arm and attempted to smother him in his coils.
But miraculously Nababn managed to win the combat and killed the snake. Speaking from his hospital bed, he said: “I tried to catch it. It bit my arm, and we wrestled for a while.” He suffered deep lacerations to his left arm and hand. Pictures show the creature’s carcass strung up in the village as three children play on its tail.
Nearby adults are clearly dwarfed by the seven metre beast. Indonesian media reported a tussle with a similarly large snake in March had ended a lot worse for a West Sulawesi man, who was found dead in the reptile’s stomach.
Just last month a Hampshire man was found dead next to his pet python.
Dan Brandon, an experienced snake handler, was found with “serious injuries” at his home, police said.
