Cinemas, Reptiles, and Shopping Malls

It seems to be the case that residents of the city have had their prospects of coming in close contact with snakes improve.
An unfortunate cinemagoer's bizarre experience seems to have started this off, when during a screening of Mr and Mrs Smith, a python made a beeline for her legs.

“It was about an hour into the movie and we were engrossed when the women in the row in front started screaming. But the scene was of an explosion and people in the film were running and screaming, so no one took notice,” Ms Sherana said yesterday. “Two minutes later and she was still screaming. A continuous high pitched scream.”

Not only is it a mystery as to how the snake got there in the first place, but the reptile seemingly vanished.

Last night the fate of the reptile was unknown. Police confirmed cinema staff statements that the snake was handed over to Al Rifaa station. But Lieutenant Colonel Ahmad Khalifa Ahmad, director of Al Rifaa police station could only confirm that the snake was received by the police. A station source said: “The animal was caught alive when it was handed over to the police. We handed over the animal to Dubai Municipality.”
But officials at Dubai Municipality denied receiving the creature and said that the Municipality is ready to take it to the zoo once the snake is handed over. Last night, Dr Riza Khan, from Dubai Zoo said: “No reptile capture was reported to us. The animal will be taken care of if delivered to the zoo.

Meanwhile, the large, sprawling Ibn Battuta Shopping Mall recently announed a 'Snake Oasis' as part of the Dubai Summer Surprises. Perhaps we now know where our film-loving reptile has disappeared to.