Missing Mother of Four Found Inside Belly Of 20-Foot Python – After Being Swallowed Whole
A missing woman in Indonesia has been found deceased in the most disturbing of circumstances.
The 45-year-old mother of four was found dead inside the belly of a 20-foot reticulated python after her husband reported her missing when she failed to return home after walking through woodlands to sell food at a market in central Indonesia’s Sulawesi province.
CBS News reports:
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 meters (16 feet).
The mother-of-four had gone missing Thursday night and failed to return home, forcing a search effort, 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,” said Suardi.
“They agreed to cut open the python’s stomach. As soon as they did, Farida’s head was immediately visible.”
Graphic footage obtained by TMZ appeared to show locals opening up the snake’s body and finding the missing woman.
According to the Natural History Museum, the reticulated python is the longest snake in the world, regularly reaching over 6.25 metres in length and is longest of the 39 species in the family Pythonidae.
“Reticulated pythons live in southeast Asia and while they are typically found in rainforests, woodland and grasslands, their habitat preference seems to depend on their location,’ the Museum notes.
“In Myanmar, these non-venomous snakes have only been found in pristine forest, whereas in Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysian Borneo they’ve also been recorded in sewers.”
The poor woman is not the first victim of such a snake attack and almost certainly not the last.
Last year, a farmer in the Tinanggea district of Southeast Sulawesi was strangled by an eight-meter-long python as it attempted to devour him, leading residents to kill the snake.
In 2022, a woman named Jahrah, 54, was collecting rubber in Jambi province when she went missing. Her body was discovered inside a swollen python two days later.
You can email Ben Kew here, and read more of Ben Kew’s articles here.