A Tanzanian man has been arrested by police for purportedly trying to sell his wife’s body parts including her head, breasts and genitals.
The man is said to have confessed during interrogation by police on Saturday. The suspect confessed to killing his wife after he heard that human body parts were in demand in Shinyanga in the north of Tanzania where the man lives.
“The suspect had a plastic bag and claimed to be carrying pork, but police guards at a bank … checked the contents and discovered a human head, breasts, genitals and other parts,” said regional police commander Diwani Athumani.
The man, arrested on Friday, will undergo psychiatric testing before trial.
Sale of human body parts is not uncommon in the East African state, where dozens of albinos have been murdered for their body parts, which are then used by witch doctors to concoct lucky charms.
Much as this story may sound weird, it is a typical example of situations that call for mental health screening and services. Obviously, this was a person that was mentally deranged but perhaps ignored. Our health care systems need to design programs to target such individuals and have a systems to make such services accessible with no stigma or prejudice attached.