Indonesian Woman Goes Missing, Body Found Inside 23-Foot-Long Python

The family and villagers launched a search for the woman, and found a python lying about 50 meters (yards) from where her belongings were found.

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Pythons are not poisonous snakes, but they are capable of swallowing large preys. This was proven right in central Indonesia as a 7-meter-long (23-foot-long) python swallowed a woman alive, reported news agency AP, citing local officials. The victim, 54-year-old Wa Tiba was made a prey by the snake after she had gone to a kitchen garden near her village on Muna island in Southeast Sulawesi province on Thursday evening.

After she did not return, her family members went to the place to look for her but found only her belongings, including sandals and a flashlight, according to the village chief Faris, reported AP.

Soon the family and villagers launched a search for the woman, and found a python lying about 50 meters (yards) from where her belongings were found. The snake was unable to move as it had a bloated belly.

Locals later carried the python to their village and cut it open.

“When they cut open the snake’s belly they found Tiba’s body still intact with all her clothes,” Faris said, as reported by AP. “She was swallowed first from her head,” he further said.

The victims garden, about 1 kilometer from the village is located in a rocky area with caves and cliffs that houses many snakes, the village chief said, as reported by AP.

Reticulated pythons are commonly found in Indonesia and Southeast Asia. These snakes have sharp curved teeth with which they  squeeze their prey to death and swallow it whole.

Incidents of pythons eating humans are rare. They are mostly known to eat monkeys, pigs and other mammals.

This is not the first time such an incident has been reported from the country. Two similar deaths were reported between 2017 and 2018.