A man who was believed to have wanted to sell a python he found on his way home after a night out with some friends ended up being strangled to death by the 3.5 metre-long reptile in Jalan Haji Ibrahim, Kuala Langat early today.

In the 3am incident, Zaim Khalis Kosnan, 35, died of asphyxiation after his neck was constricted by the python.

His brother-in-law, Mohd Noor Radiman, 54, said he was made to understand that the victim only held the snake's head while returning home on a motorcycle.

“The python began to coil around his body and constricted his neck when he was on his way home. Subsequently, he fell off the motorcycle along with the snake.

“He was already dead when the passers-by found him by the road side,” he said when met at the Banting Hospital's Forensic Department here.

Mohd Noor said none of the family members were aware that the victim was trained to catch snakes, but the deceased was seen doing it before by his fellow villagers.

Meanwhile, Kuala Langat district police chief Supt Azizan Tukiman said passers-by at the scene had attempted to rescue the victim, but he was already lifeless by then.

“The members of the public then killed the python. The victim was believed to have caught the reptile for sale,” he said in a statement.

The case has been classified as sudden death.

- Bernama