A torso believed to be that of a woman aged between 35 and 50 years old has been found on a riverbed in Shiga Prefecture, prompting police to open an investigation into abandonment of a corpse, authorities said Wednesday.
Other parts, including the head, have not so far been found and police said the body appeared to have been dismembered with a knife, adding that they are still in the process of confirming the deceased person's identity.
The partly skeletonized remains were said to have been on the riverbed in the city of Moriyama for about one or two weeks. No belongings or any weapons were found at the site.
According to police, a passer-by called them last Saturday to report the corpse of an animal. However, an autopsy of the remains later confirmed that it was the torso of a woman and that the person had been dead for about one or two weeks.