Residents of Pakyi Number One near Kumasi woke up Saturday to the ghastly spectacle of the near-decapitated body of a pregnant woman in an uncompleted building. Construction workers who had gone to work on the project discovered the body drenched in blood, with the underpants and bra lying close by. Police made a fruitless search for the identity of the woman on Saturday and it was Sunday morning that they made a breakthrough. Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Simon Denteh, Asokwa District Police Crime Officer, told graphic.com.gh that relatives of the deceased identified her as Akosua Mansa, 32, from Nkwanta Ofoase near Trede in the Atwima Kwanwoma District of the Ashanti Region. Police are however yet to trace those behind the killing, but the crime officer promised that the police would work hard to get to the bottom of the horrendous crime. He consequently appealed to members of the public especially those from Pakyi and surrounding communities who had any information about the act to assist the police in that respect. The grisly murder sent shock waves through the town and its environs, as people could not fathom the motive behind the crime. ASP Denteh said it was too early to establish the reasons behind the act but did not rule out ritual murder. Again, police suspected the woman was raped before being killed as whitish substance believed to be human sperms was found near the genitals. Also found besides the mortal remains was gari and beans in a polythene bag. According to the assembly member for Pakyi Number One, Mr John Forkuo, three men working on the building, informed him in the morning that they went to the site to find a woman dead in the structure with the head almost severed. He said he briefed the chief of the town who directed him to inform the unit committee members of the area. Mr Forkuo said he informed the Pakyi police and together they went to the site where they saw the body. After the fruitless search on Saturday, an uncle of the deceased, Abdul Kadir went to Pakyi on Sunday to identify the body after police had shown him pictures of the slain woman. ASP Denteh quoted Kadir as saying that the deceased last Friday sought permission to undertake a return journey to Pakyi but did not explain what exactly she was going to do there. When up to the next day, the deceased had not returned, relatives wondered what might have happened to her. In the evening of Saturday when according to Kadir they heard on radio about the murder of a pregnant woman, the family decided to go to Pakyi and to their shock, the deceased was found to be their own. The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital mortuary pending post mortem tomorrow (Monday).