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Woman swallowed by enormous 23-ft python in Indonesia

The woman was swallowed by a python after going out to check on her garden: Shutterstock
The woman was swallowed by a python after going out to check on her garden: Shutterstock

A woman was swallowed head-first by a 23-foot python in Indonesia.

The body of 54-year-old Wa Tiba was found inside the snake after she went missing while checking her vegetable garden.

When her family went to look for her, they found only her belongings, including sandals and a torch.

The family and villagers launched a search for the woman, and found the snake with a bloated belly about 50 yards from where her belongings were found.

Villagers on Muna island in the Southeast Sulawesi province killed the snake and carried it to the village.

"When they cut open the snake's belly they found Tiba's body still intact with all her clothes," the village chief, named only as Faris, said. "She was swallowed first from her head."

Videos posted on some websites showed villagers slicing open the python's carcass to reveal the woman's body.

Faris said the victim's garden, about half a mile from her house, is located in a rocky area with caves and cliffs believed to contain many snakes.

Reticulated pythons, which are widespread in Indonesia and other parts of south-east Asia, grab onto their prey with dozens of sharp curved teeth and then squeeze it to death before swallowing it whole.

Reports of humans being killed by pythons are extremely rare. In the wild they are known to eat monkeys, pigs and other mammals.

It was the second python attack on a human in Indonesia since March last year, when a 25-year-old man was swallowed whole by a python in West Sulawesi province.