Shock in Mieh w Mieh, after dismembered body discovered in garden

The village of Mieh w Mieh is in shock this Tuesday. The body of a woman was discovered buried in a garden in this village in the Saida district on Monday evening, and the accused is none other than one of the village's well-known inhabitants. The macabre discovery was made by a 24-year-old agricultural worker from the village. While weeding a garden, the young man found a bone that he believed to be that of a human. He then came across human remains scattered all over the grounds.

The body was finally identified as that of a woman of American origin, married to a man from Mieh w Mieh, who had mysteriously disappeared two months ago. At the time, the husband had told everyone that his wife had been traveling, villagers told L'Orient-Le Jour. According to the state-run National News Agency (NNA), the man was arrested on Monday and confessed to killing his wife before cutting her up and burying her. The motive for the murder was not disclosed by the authorities. Villagers interviewed simply noted that the couple did not get on well.

"He had breakfast with us on Monday," said a local baker, who says he knows the accused. "I heard he was on bad terms with his wife and that they were even separated," he adds. "We spent the morning with him yesterday. There was nothing to suggest that he could have killed his wife," agreed one of the store's customers, who says he went to the scene and saw the victim's remains. "This story is quite incredible," he continued. Wishing to remain anonymous, the young farm worker who found the remains is still in shock. "She was barely buried, so it wasn't difficult to see her. She'd been cut into several pieces," he said, before cutting the conversation short.

The land in which the body was found belonged to Lebanese expatriates living in the United States, who had commissioned the young worker to restore the garden. According to other versions, the land belonged to the accused himself. In the grocery store run by the mukhtar Georges Wakim, customers discuss the incident: "Nothing like this has ever happened here," sighed the mukhtar, who revealed that the victim had disappeared two months ago. "The couple's two children, who live in the United States, contacted the American embassy in Lebanon because they were worried about not hearing from their mother. The embassy then notified the Lebanese authorities," he explained.

"The husband was then interviewed by the security services, then released, after claiming that his wife had taken a cab to the airport and that he knew no more," continued the mukhtar, who explained that the man had left the United States eight years ago to resettle in the village. The mukhtar also said he had heard of disputes within the couple, without giving any further details. As for the accused, he seems shrouded in mystery. According to the villagers who knew him, he was currently unemployed, after a series of odd jobs. "He worked in Africa for a while. Then he was a security guard for three years in the municipality of Mieh w Mieh," said one of the grocery store's customers. "We'll never know what happened.

This article originally appeared in French in L'Orient-Le Jour.