In a bizarre incident in Indonesia, a crocodile that had attacked a man was said to have been “summoned” by a witch doctor to return the body and it did just that, with the “delivery” captured on video.
Syarifuddin, 41, was bathing in a river with friends when a crocodile pounced on him and dragged him beneath the water in Berau, Indonesia, at 6.20pm on Tuesday.
Desperate relatives reportedly searched in vain for him and it was assumed that he had been taken into the depths of the Lempake River when police failed to find him.
Apparently, villagers contacted a local witch doctor who specialises in ‘crocodile witch craft’ and it is claimed a spell was cast for Syarifuddin to be brought back alive.
Incredibly, his body emerged on Wednesday morning – unfortunately, dead.
In the video recording, the predator is seen floating to the banks with the naked body of Syarifuddin in its jaws as the gathered crowd looks on.
It then drops off the corpse, sparking suggestions the saltwater crocodile had actually been guarding the victim’s body against other predators seeing as it hadn’t been eaten.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZJ9UyJjnZw
(Viewer discretion is advised when watching the video as some may find it disturbing.)
A friend, Andi Resmin, was with Syarifuddin when he was captured by the croc. “He was just in the water and the crocodile pounced on him and took him,” Andi revealed.
Local resident, Eet, said that there was a local myth that anyone bathing with clothes on in the river would be fine but bathing naked would result in a crocodile attack.
Syarifuddin suffered injuries to his ribs on the right side of his body.
Police chief Inspector Talisayan Faisal Hamid, who is now investigating the incident, said: “The victim’s friends reported to the officer he was attacked by a crocodile. That night we did a search.”
The officer said no body was found that evening, so residents contacted a crocodile charmer and the body appeared the next morning.
Hamid said it was “very weird” that three crocodiles emerged from the river, suggesting the body of the man was being protected so that “the victim could be delivered”.
He said, “People also bathe in the water, so it is unlucky that he was killed by the crocodile.”
Hamid added that the “important thing was that the body had been found” and that the locals were “hunting the crocodile that attacked” the man.