GRANDMA CRUSHED TO DEATH BY 16FT PYTHON WHILE WORKING ON FARM AS SNAKE TRIED TO SWALLOW HER HEAD FIRST. (PHOTO).

 Grandma crushed to death by 16ft python while working on farm as snake tried to swallow her head first

An Indonesian grandmother has met a tragic end after being crushed to death by a 16-foot python that tried to swallow her whole.

According to reports, the woman, 57-year-old Hapsah, was attacked by the serpent last week while doing routine work on a plantation, where she tapped rubber trees, in Muaro Jambi, a province of Sumatra.

Hapsah reportedly tried to fight off the snake as it wrapped itself around her body ... but the python overpowered her, squeezing her unconscious from lack of oxygen

The 16ft snake overpowered the struggling woman and wrapped itself around her body in Muaro Jambi Regency, Jambi province.

It slowly squeezed the breath out of her lungs until she passed out and is believed to have tried to swallow her whole.

Her alarmed husband M Safri, 66, who worked with her on the same plantation, went to search for her when she failed to come home that afternoon.

Safri heard rustling noises in the undergrowth and was horrified to find the reptile coiled around his beloved wife.

Sungai Gelam Police Chief Iptu Usaha Sitepu said: "When he approached the source of the sound, he saw that the victim had been constricted to death by a python and was about to be swallowed head-first.

"He knew she was already dead, so he could only pull at the snake's tail and hit it until it loosened its grip."

Enraged locals arrived at the scene to hunt down the python.

The vengeful mob found the snake burrowing near the roots of a tree and mercilessly beat it to death.

This isn't the first fatal python attack in Indonesia this summer. Days before Hapsah's passing, another elderly woman from Palopo City was attacked and killed by a serpent in the Sumarambu mountains.