An elderly woman was discovered dead after a fatal encounter with a python in central Indonesia, marking the third such incident in South Sulawesi province in just three months.
According to AFP, local police and officials on Friday said the 74-year-old woman, identified as Maga, went missing on Wednesday, raising alarm among her relatives who subsequently launched a search.
Like many Indonesians, Maga was known by only one name.
The tragic discovery was made near her family’s home in Padang Lambe, where Maga had been working in a nearby field.
She was found lifeless, bearing bite marks on her head and legs.
“She was presumably killed due to being constricted and bitten by the snake,” said Supriadi, a police spokesman in Palopo city, South Sulawesi.
The python responsible for the attack was a formidable four-meter, 13-foot, constrictor.
The head of Padang Lambe district, Awaluddin, told AFP that Maga’s daughter found her mother’s body with the snake just meters away.
Locals quickly subdued and killed the python, reportedly finding that it had attempted to swallow Maga, consuming her up to her shoulders before regurgitating her body.
Although deaths caused by large constrictors are rare, Indonesia has witnessed several fatal encounters in recent years.
In July, a woman in Siteba village, also in South Sulawesi, was found inside the belly of a snake after being swallowed whole.
Also, in June, another woman was discovered inside the stomach of a reticulated python in a different district within the province.
These incidents are not unprecedented; in 2018 and 2017, similar cases occurred on Sulawesi island.
In 2023, residents in the region killed an eight-meter python that was found devouring a farmer it had killed.
