Tanzanian village chief attempting to stop poaching beheaded by gang

An attempt to stop animal poachers has ended disastrously for a village chief after youths severed his head before dumping his body.

Tanzanian police have arrested a man over the alleged beheading of a top village official.

Gijedabung village chief Faustine Sanka, 59, was found with his head severed near Tarangire National Park.

Authorities said his body parts had been eaten by animals when they uncovered the grisly scene.

Limito Lebangu, 19, is being held for questioning over the murder, believed to be an act of revenge. Police are hunting for three other suspects.

Manyara Regional Police Commander Augustino Senga said the village chief’s body parts had been eaten by wild animals. Picture: IPP MEDIA

The Citizen reports Mr Sanka was attempting to prevent poaching in the Tarangire National Park - Tanzania’s sixth largest reserve.

Manyara Regional Police Commander Augustino Senga said youths in the nearby village were furious at Mr Sanka, who was believed to have given wardens at the national park a list of people engaged in illegal hunting activities.

“Preliminary investigations reveal that Sanka was advancing the fight against poaching in the Tarangire National Park. In the process of preventing poaching, Sanka reported Lebangu and some of his colleagues to game rangers at the Tarangire National Park and that was why they decided to kill him,” Mr Senga said, according to The Citizen.

It’s understood Mr Sanka was trying to prevent poaching at Tarangire National Park. Picture: Sarah Nicholson

Mr Sanka’s body was found dumped at a forest near the village, according to Mr Senga.

“They killed him by cutting off his head using a sharp object. After killing him, his body was wrapped in a plastic bag and his motorbike was left there,” he said.

“We found him dead on February 14, and his body parts eaten by wild animals.”

Mexican woman Susana Carrera's body was found decapitated. Picture: Supplied

Recently, reports emerged that Mexican authorities had found a woman’s decapitated body after her family was unable to pay the ransom demanded by kidnappers.

Susana Carrera was found inside a bag in a carpark in the coastal Mexican city of Coatzacoalcos in the state of Veracruz, Fox News reported.

She had been kidnapped a week earlier outside a friend’s house where she had gone to pick up one of her children.