Death of Akbar Salubiro

Akbar Salubiro, a 25-year-old man, went missing on March 25, 2017, after setting off to harvest crops in a remote village on the western part of the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia. When he did not return, his family grew concerned and contacted police, and a search party was organized the following morning.

According to accounts documented after the event, residents reported hearing cries coming from a nearby palm grove the night before Salubiro was found. Later the same day the search began, a large reticulated python was seen moving into the backyard of Salubiro's home near an oil palm plantation. Witnesses and an official noted that the snake appeared to have difficulty moving because of its distended belly. Residents cut open the snake's abdomen and discovered Salubiro's body inside.

The recovery of Salubiro's remains from the python's stomach was documented through photographs and video taken by witnesses at the scene. This documentation has been cited as making the case the first fully confirmed instance of a reticulated python — or any snake species — killing and consuming an adult human being, as opposed to earlier undocumented or disputed reports of similar incidents.

The case drew international news attention at the time, including contemporaneous coverage from outlets such as BBC News. Subsequent reporting, including from National Post, has referenced similar later incidents involving reticulated pythons in Indonesia.

Since Salubiro's death, several other reported cases of reticulated pythons consuming adult humans in Indonesia have been documented. On June 14, 2018, a 54-year-old woman named Wa Tiba, also from Sulawesi, was reportedly eaten by a reticulated python that had entered her garden. In 2022, a 54-year-old woman named Jahrah, from Jambi in Sumatra, was found inside a python after going missing, described as the third fully documented case of this kind. On June 7, 2024, a woman named Farida was found to have been consumed by a reticulated python in South Sulawesi, followed roughly three weeks later, in July 2024, by the discovery of a woman named Siriati inside a python's stomach, also in South Sulawesi. In July 2025, a 63-year-old man named La Noti was reportedly eaten by a reticulated python while feeding livestock in Southeast Sulawesi.