A woman was killed and swallowed whole by a python in Indonesia’s Jambi province, according to local reports.
Jahrah, a rubber extractor reportedly in his 50s, was at work on a rubber plantation on Sunday morning.
She was reported missing for not returning that night, and a search party was sent out to find her.
Locals later killed the snake and found her body inside.
“The victim was found in the snake’s stomach,” Betala Jambi police chief AKP S Harefa told local media, adding that her body appeared mostly intact when found.
He said the victim’s husband called a search party on Sunday night after he found some of the clothes and tools she used at the rubber plantation.
After the snake, at least 5 meters (16 feet) long, was found on Monday, villagers caught and killed it to identify the victim.
“We cut the abdomen into pieces and found Jafra inside,” Khalefa told CNN Indonesia.
Such incidents are rare, but this is not the first time someone has been killed and eaten by a python in Indonesia. Two similar deaths were reported in the country between 2017 and 2018.
The python swallows its food whole. Their jaws are connected by very flexible ligaments, allowing them to stretch around large prey.
An expert previously told the BBC that pythons generally eat mice and other animals.
“Essentially, they can get as big as their prey,” says Mary Ruth Law, Conservation and Research Officer at the Singapore Wildlife Refuge.
This includes animals as large as pigs and cows.
