There is mild pandemonium in a village in central Indonesia after a woman was found dead inside the belly of a snake after it swallowed her whole a local official disclosed Sunday.
The husband of 45-year-old Farida and residents of Kalempang village in South Sulawesi province discovered her inside the reticulated python, measuring around five metres (16 feet) yesterday
The mother-of-four had gone missing on Friday 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.
Read Also: Snakes Used As Tools Of Terror By Kidnappers, Victims Report
“They agreed to cut open the python’s stomach. As soon as they did, Farida’s head was immediately visible.”
Farida was found fully clothed inside the snake.
Such incidents are considered extremely rare but several people have died in Indonesia in recent years after being swallowed whole by pythons.
Last year, residents in Southeast Sulawesi’s Tinanggea district killed an eight-metre python, which was found strangling and eating one of the farmers in a village.
In 2018, a 54-year-old woman was found dead inside a seven-metre python in Southeast Sulawesi’s Muna town.
And the year before, a farmer in West Sulawesi went missing before being found eaten alive by a four-metre python at a palm oil plantation.
In another report, survivors recently freed from the clutches of their captors have spoken out, revealing the disturbing tactic employed by kidnappers: the use of poisonous snakes to intimidate and terrorize them.
Speaking separately to the News Agency of Nigeria, certain individuals detailed their encounters with a plethora of snakes in the forests where bandits are known to roam.
The victims recounted instances where the snakes would indiscriminately attack both captors and captives. One individual, preferring anonymity, confided to NAN that kidnappers would maliciously toss them into areas known to be rife with snakes.