A 35 year-old woman from Mnkhwani Village in Ntcheu was on Thursday found dead in a garden near her home without private parts.

Ntcheu Police Deputy Public Relations Officer Hastings Chigalu confirmed of the incident and identified the deceased as Yokoleta Bauleni of Mnkhwani Village Traditional Authority Chief Ganya in the district.

According to Chigalu, the deceased left home on Wednesday at around 6.00 pm but without informing her husband where she was heading to.

“However, the deceased’s husband concluded that Bauleni had gone out to borrow a mat which the deceased wanted to use to dry pounded maize in readiness for milling the following day,” said Chigalu.

He said the woman did not return home until 9.00 pm and that this forced the deceased’s husband to alert his neighbors of the situation.

“The community members then launched a man hunt in search for the woman but their efforts proved futile,” said Chigalu.

Chigalu said the community members continued searching for the woman in the morning hours of Thursday and found her dead in a garden just within a distance of 200 meters from her house.

He said the dead body was burnt from breasts below and police suspect that the assailant burnt the body to conceal the absence of the private parts.

Meanwhile no one has been arrested in connection with the incident.