On October 21, a woman working as a rubber scraper, named Zahra (52 years old, living in Indonesia) was reported missing. Family members and local police searched the forest where Zahra went to work but still couldn’t find a trace.

Around 9am on October 24, people found a 7m long python with an unusually large belly lying on the side of the road. People suspected it might have something to do with Zahra’s disappearance, so they arrested him and cut open his stomach. What is shocking is that inside the body of the python there is Zahra’s body.

“The python was caught and killed by people. They suspected it because it had a very large belly. When we dissected it, we found Zahra’s body,” said Birin – a local resident.

Soon after, the victim’s body was returned to his family and buried according to local custom.

The python that attacked the victim was a brocade python. They are pythons that can climb trees, living mainly in China, Southeast Asia, India. The longest individual of the spotted python found in Malaysia is up to 9m.

Regarding this incident, the local community representative said that it may be due to the reduction of the python’s natural food. Species such as wild boar that are often eaten by pythons have been hunted and exhausted by humans.

“With pythons longer than 5m, they often hunt large prey such as wild boar, cattle or humans,” the representative said.

In the absence of prey, the large python will eat whatever it finds. In addition, the natural environment affected and destroyed by humans can also lead to the habitat of animals including pythons being affected. Pythons rarely move far from where they normally live. So, in the case, the land is reclaimed by people to build houses and gardens, pythons still live there. They can attack humans when given the opportunity.

Previously, in 2018, 54-year-old Wa Tiba (living in Sulawesi, Indonesia) was also swallowed by a python. Accordingly, on the evening of June 14, 2018, she went to a corn field not far from her house because the plants were destroyed by wild boars.

When it was morning, her family still hadn’t seen Wa Tiba, so they worriedly searched. However, when she arrived, her relatives only saw the flashlight, the knife, the sandals and the footprints with which she went to the field.

Residents around were mobilized to find Ms. Wa Tiba. Then, they discovered a python lying near this woman’s corn field with an unusually large belly. People suspect that Ms. Wa Tiba may have been swallowed by a python. After dissecting the abdomen of the large python, Wa Tiba’s body was discovered inside.