Swallowed whole: Woman in Indonesia goes missing, found in bulging belly of python

A woman in Indonesia has died after being swallowed whole by a python, according to multiple media reports.

Farida, 45, was found dead in the belly of a five-metre python in South Sulawesi last Friday (June 7).

Search efforts by the family and residents of Kalempang village had begun after the mother of four went missing last Thursday night, village head Suardi Rosi told AFP.

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.

The villagers then agreed to cut open the python's stomach.

"As soon as they opened up the stomach, they immediately saw Farida's head," Suardi said.

She was found fully clothed inside the snake.

Multiple deaths from pythons

Although incidents such as these are considered extremely rare, many have died in Indonesia in recent years after being swallowed whole by pythons, The Straits Times reported last Saturday.

Jahrah, a rubber-tapper in her 50s in the Jambi province of Indonesia, was found in the stomach of a five-metre python after she went missing, the BBC reported in 2022.

She was last seen on her way to work at a rubber plantation on a Sunday morning but didn't return home later that night.

Her husband found her belongings and tools, but not her, prompting him to call for a search party that later found the snake.

"After they cut the belly apart, they found it was Jahrah inside," Betara Jambi police chief AKP S Harefa told CNN Indonesia.

In 2018, the body of 54-year-old Wa Tiba was found in a seven-metre python in Persiapan Lawela, a village offshore of Sulawesi.

She had gone missing the night before after going to check on her corn plantation, prompting a search party of about 100 residents, World of Buzz reported that year.

She was later found after residents cut open a python, finding her whole body with her clothes still intact.

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khooyihang@asiaone.com