Pet Snake Proves Less Than Charming

A college student pulled a 6-foot-long pet python from her bag to scare off a man she claimed was trying to rape her, police said Monday.

Duangporn Chitchai, 20, told police Sunday that she and Boonchai Sirithanyarat, 27, met by chance, got quite friendly over drinks and ended up in a hotel room. She told officers he then tried to rape her until she pulled out her snake, Thong K.--Thai for Carat Gold--to scare him off.

“I never leave home without him,” police quoted her as saying.

Police said Sirithanyarat contended that he began pushing and shoving Duangporn only to keep away from the python that she had taken out of her bag and coiled around her arm.

“What kind of a woman carries a . . . python in her handbag?” police quoted Boonchai as saying. Police said they fined him $2 for minor assault.