Missing mother in Indonesia found dead in the body of a 5-meter-long python that had swallowed her whole

A woman was found dead in the belly of a snake that had swallowed her whole in central Indonesia, a local official said on Saturday, making her at least the fifth person to be swallowed by a python in the country since 2017.

The husband of 45-year-old Farida and residents of the village of Kalempang in the province of South Sulawesi discovered them inside the approximately five-meter-long reticulated python on Friday.

The mother of four disappeared on Thursday evening and did not return home, necessitating a search operation, village chief Suardi Rosi told AFP.

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

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

Farida was found fully clothed in the queue.

A graphic video posted by TMZ appeared to show the snake being slashed in a wooded area, while further footage posted by the Daily Mail appeared to show the woman’s body being carried in a blanket past distraught villagers.

Other similar incidents in recent years

Reticulated pythons grab their prey with dozens of sharp, curved teeth and then crush it to death before swallowing it whole. They are widespread in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia and are known to eat monkeys, pigs, and other mammals.

Reports of people being killed by pythons are extremely rare, but in recent years several people in Indonesia have died after being swallowed whole by pythons.

Last year, residents of Tinanggea district in Southeast Sulawesi killed an eight-meter-long python that was caught strangling and eating a farmer in a village.

In 2022, a woman was killed and swallowed whole by a python in Indonesia’s Jambi province, the BBC reported, citing local media.

In 2018 Woman was found dead in a seven-meter-long python in the town of Muna in Southeast Sulawesi. Officials said the victim, 54-year-old Wa Tiba, disappeared while checking her vegetable garden near her village.

In 2017, a farmer in West Sulawesi disappeared before being found eaten alive by a 13-foot-long python on a palm oil plantation. A six-minute video obtained by CBS News shows villagers cutting open the python’s carcass and exposing the legs and torso of the dead victim, named Akbar. Villagers said the victim was likely ambushed from behind.

“Call of Aggression”

According to the Natural History Museum in London, the reticulated python is the longest snake in the world. They are native to South Asia and can grow to be over 6 metres long.

The longest reticulated python ever found in the wild was discovered in 1912, according to the museum, and measured nearly 10 meters long – “more than half the length of a bowling alley and longer than a giraffe is tall.”

Zoo Atlanta, which houses reticulated pythons, says the snakes “have a reputation for being aggressive.”

In the United States, the snakes are occasionally kept as pets.

Last year, a 14-foot-long reticulated python found dead on the side of the road on Long Island, sparking a search for its owner.

In 2022, a 16 foot long albino reticulated python that glided through a Texas neighborhood for months was finally rescued and returned to its owner.