This is the gruesome moment a farmer was found dead inside the belly of a massive python.

Grandfather La Noti, 61, was tending to his livestock when he was attacked by the 28ft beast in an orchard in Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, on Friday morning.

The hulking serpent surged from the tall grass and latched onto his leg while he was feeding his chickens.

With no weapons to defend himself, La Noti was crushed to death and devoured whole by the ravenous reptile.

His concerned family began searching for him when he was still missing the next morning, July 5.

They went to the orchard, where his motorbike was discovered ominously abandoned at the edge of the road in Majapahit Village, sparking a wider search by the locals.

The residents made a chilling discovery later that afternoon when they found a huge reticulated python with a bloated stomach lying in the undergrowth several feet away from a garden hut.

Fearing the worst, the villagers caught the motionless reptile, weighed down by the prey in its stomach, and sliced it open.

His relatives wailed in anguish as they discovered La Noti's fully clothed 5'4'' body covered in slime, entombed in the snake's tummy.

Gruesome footage shows several men slowly cutting open the snake's midsection to reveal the missing La Noti, slicked in the reptile's digestive fluids. There were no signs of life.

Adjunct Police Commissioner Masud Gunawan, Batauga police chief, said: 'The victim said goodbye to his family, saying he was going to feed his livestock but he did not return home.

'The family and residents searched and found he had been swallowed by a large python. The family accepted the cause of death and prayed for their relative.'

La Ode Risawal, head of the local disaster office's emergency and logistics division, said La Noti was seen working in the orchard every day.

He said: 'This is the first time a human was eaten by a python in this area. Recently, pythons have indeed been appearing more frequently in people's homes and gardens.

'We have warned residents to be careful when they go into the forest alone for work.'

La Ode Kaida, head of Conservation Section II of the Natural Resources Conservation Agency (BKSDA) in the province, said the increased python sightings may have been caused by disturbances in their natural habitat or a declining prey population.

La Noti's remains were retrieved and returned to his family for burial.

Indonesia is home to some of the largest pythons in the world.

While neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia have undergone rapid urbanisation, the sprawling woodland and rich diversity of the Islamic archipelago provide the perfect environment for the snakes to grow to huge lengths.

However, the situation can prove deadly when residents in remote villages venture into the forests for farming or mining as the economy slowly develops.