When villagers cut open the python's stomach, "Farida's head was immediately visible," an official said.

A woman has been found dead inside the belly of a snake after it swallowed her whole in central Indonesia, a local official said Saturday, marking at least the fifth person to be devoured by a python in the country since 2017.

The husband of 45-year-old Farida and residents of Kalempang village in South Sulawesi province discovered her on Friday inside the reticulated python, which measured around five meters (16 feet).

The mother-of-four had gone missing Thursday night and failed to return home, forcing a search effort, village head Suardi Rosi told AFP.