Human Head For Sale.

[Violence Fight]

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African police sting operation has bagged a murderer and the human head he was trying to sell for use in traditional medicine, police said on Thursday.

Police have in the past uncovered several so-called muti murders of people killed for body parts that some traditional healers believe are essential ingredients for certain kinds of medicine.

Police said the head belonged to a 52-year-old man whose headless corpse was found Monday in Krugersdorp. The head had been hacked off with a knife.

"A trap was set whereby a 23-year-old man was arrested who had attempted to sell the head for 10,000 rand ($980) for muti purposes," a police statement said. The arrest was made on Wednesday in Krugersdorp, a town west of Johannesburg.

The suspect will appear in court Friday to face a charge of murder. Police said they believed he had stabbed his victim several times before decapitating him.