Python swallows woman whole in Indonesia

A woman has been found dead inside the belly of a snake after it swallowed her whole in central Indonesia, a local official said on Saturday.

The husband of 45-year-old Farida and residents of Kalempang village in South Sulawesi province discovered her on Friday inside the reticulated python, which measured around five metres (16 feet).

The mother of four had gone missing on Thursday night and failed to return home, forcing a search effort, village head Suardi Rosi said.

Her husband “found her belongings… which made him suspicious. The villagers then searched the area. They soon spotted a python with a large belly”, Suardi said.

“They agreed to cut open the python’s stomach. As soon as they did, Farida’s head was immediately visible.”

Farida was found fully clothed inside the snake.

Such incidents are considered extremely rare, but several people have died in Indonesia in recent years after being swallowed whole by pythons.

Last year, residents in Southeast Sulawesi’s Tinanggea district killed an eight-metre python, which was found strangling and eating one of the farmers in a village.

In 2018, a 54-year-old woman was found dead inside a seven-metre python in Southeast Sulawesi’s Muna town.

And the year before, a farmer in West Sulawesi went missing before being found eaten alive by a four-metre python at a palm oil plantation.