Body of missing woman, 36, found inside python in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

A missing woman's body was found inside the belly of a snake after it swallowed her whole in South Sulawesi province, Indonesia, local police said on Jul. 3, 2024.

This is the second python-related death in the province in a month.

What happened

Relatives of the woman, 36-year-old Siriati searched for her after she failed to return home to buy medicine for her sick child the morning before.

Her husband, 30-year-old Adiansa, found her slippers and pants on the ground about 500 metres from their house in Siteba village, AFP reported.

He then noticed a live snake with a "very large" bloated belly about 10 metres from the path, local police chief Idul said.

He grew suspicious, and instructed villagers to help cut open its stomach, where they found Siriati's body, village secretary Iyang revealed.

Another case

On Jun. 7, a 45-year-old Indonesian woman who had gone missing was found dead inside the belly of a python in Kalempang village in South Sulawesi province.

Village head Suardi Rosi told AFP that a search for Farida, a mother of four, was conducted after she failed to return home.

Farida's husband and residents of Kalempang village in South Sulawesi province discovered her the next day inside the reticulated python.

Her husband grew suspicious after finding her belongings, and soon after scouting the surrounding area, they spotted a python with a large belly.

When the python's belly was cut open, Farida was found fully clothed inside the snake.

Cases of pythons swallowing humans rare

Pythons are "almost exclusively" mammal feeders and typically eat rats and other small animals, but do sometimes feast on reptiles including crocodiles, said Mary-Ruth Low, a conservation and research officer for Wildlife Reserves Singapore, which is now part of Mandai Wildlife Group.

Pythons typically kill through constriction and swallow their food whole.

However, once they reach a certain size, they tend to hunt larger prey, Low told the BBC in 2018.

"It's almost like they don't bother with rats anymore because the calories are not worth it," she said.

Their prey can thus include animals as large as pigs or cows. However, pythons can also go a long time without hunting if they fail to find suitable prey.

Cases of pythons swallowing humans are rare.

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Top photo via David Clode/Unsplash