In a startling occurrence, an Indonesian woman who had gone missing was found inside a large reticulated python after local residents slit open the snake. The woman, identified as Farida, a 45-year-old mother of four, discovered on Friday by her husband and fellow villagers in Kalempang, as per local authorities.
Farida had disappeared on Thursday evening after she didn’t return home. Her husband, growing worried, began a search and stumbled upon her personal items, which sparked concern among the villagers. Together, they combed the area and noticed a python with an unusually distended belly. They decided to intervene and sliced open the snake’s stomach, revealing Farida’s head.
The reticulated python, which was at least 16 feet long, had swallowed Farida whole, leaving her fully dressed inside the snake. Her husband, Noni, was overwhelmed with grief and regret for letting his wife venture out alone. He blamed the tragic incident on his absence, stating that if he had been with her, the snake wouldn’t have dared to attack her.
This is not the first incident of its kind. In 2018, a 54-year-old woman was found deceased inside a 23-foot python in Southeast Sulawesi’s Muna town. In another case, a farmer in West Sulawesi was found being devoured alive by a 13-foot python at a palm oil plantation.
Retic pythons, recognized as the world’s longest snakes, are indigenous to Indonesia, the Philippines, India, and Bo. Their natural diet primarily consists of rodents, but larger snakes have been known to prey pigs, civets bearcats, and even primates. Importing reticulated pythons to the United States without the necessary permits is forbidden by federal law, limiting their presence to zoological, educational, medical, and scientific purposes.
The tragic of Farida’s fate serves as a stark reminder of the dangers that can lurk in nature, even in seemingly tranquil villages.