Indonesia: Missing Woman Found Dead Inside 16-Foot-Long Python

In a tragic incident in central Indonesia, a woman was found dead inside a python after being swallowed whole. The discovery was made on July 4 in the village of Siteba in South Sulawesi province. The victim, 36-year-old Siriati, had gone missing on the night of July 3, when she went out to buy medicines for her sick child. During a search by her family, her husband, Adiansa, found her slippers and pants fallen on the ground about 500 metres away from their house and a live python with a "very large belly" about 10 metres away.

Local police chief Idul told Agence-France Presse that the villagers cut open the reptile's belly to find Siriati's body whole. This case has a shocking resemblance to another case that happened in the South Sulawesi province in June 2024, where a 45-year-old woman's body was found inside a python.

Second Case In A Month

A woman from Kalempang in the same province had gone missing on June 6 night, prompting a search by her
husband and local residents, according to village head Suardi Rosi. On June 7, 45-year-old Farida's body was found inside a python. 

Farida's husband became suspicious when he found her belongings abandoned near their home. The villagers organised a search and soon came across a reticulated python measuring around five metres (16 feet) with a noticeably large belly. Fearing the worst, they decided to cut open the snake. Upon doing so, they immediately saw Farida's head, confirming their fears. 

Graphic video footage published by TMZ and the Daily Mail shows the snake being cut open in a wooded area, revealing Farida’s body, still fully clothed, inside. Distressed villagers can be seen carrying her body in a blanket. 

Reticulated pythons, which are common in Indonesia and other parts of Southeast Asia, use their sharp, curved teeth to grab onto their prey, then squeeze it to death before swallowing it whole. They typically prey on monkeys, pigs, and other mammals. Incidents involving humans are rare but not unheard of. 

Previous Fatal Encounters with Pythons

In recent years, Indonesia has seen several fatal encounters with these giant snakes. Last year, residents in Southeast Sulawesi's Tinanggea district killed an eight-metre python that was found strangling and eating a farmer. In 2022, a woman in Jambi province was killed and swallowed whole by a python, as reported by the BBC. 

In 2018, a woman named Wa Tiba was found dead inside a seven-metre python in Southeast Sulawesi's Muna town. She had gone missing while checking her vegetable garden near her village. And in 2017, a farmer named Akbar was found inside a four-metre python in West Sulawesi after going missing from a palm oil plantation. Villagers captured the shocking moment on video as they cut open the python to reveal Akbar’s legs and torso.

Reticulated pythons are among the world’s longest snakes and are capable of consuming prey much larger than themselves. While they typically avoid human interactions, habitat encroachment and the loss of natural prey can sometimes lead to these tragic incidents.