POLICE USES SNAKE DURING INTERROGATION

Jayapura (Indonesia): Indonesian authorities on Monday launched an investigation after a police force chief admitted an officer wrapped a live snake around a terrified suspect in a bid to force a confession.

Shocking viral footage emerged online showing an alleged pickpocket – handcuffed and sitting on the floor barefoot – screaming hysterically as another officer shouts abuse at a police station in restive Papua province.

“How many times have you stolen a mobile phone?” he yells at the unidentified suspected thief, who appears to be cowering in fear.

“Only two times,” the suspect says in response.

At one stage, the officer appears to try to shove the snake into the man's mouth, while others are heard laughing in the background during the undated video.

“An officer is now being questioned by Papua police internal affairs division,” Papua police spokesman Ahmad Mustofa Kamal said on Monday.

He did not identify the officer or say if others present would be investigated.

Tonny Ananda Swadaya, the police chief in Jayawijaya district, where the incident took place, apologised in a statement on Sunday.