'I saw a lifeless woman's bloodied head': witness

A woman who died after being found battered and bleeding on a street in Malmö on Wednesday morning is believed to have been fatally beaten by her husband, who is now being held on suspicion of murder.

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The 33-year-old woman was discovered around 3.30am on Wednesday morning by passersby on a street in central Malmö after a man asked them for help lifting what witnesses quickly realized was a human body wrapped in a blanket.

"He had opened the door of the minivan and was trying to lift the body in. He was completely exhausted, he had no strength left. He also seemed gripped by panic," the witness told the Aftonbladet newspaper.

"The blanket slip off and I saw a lifeless woman's bloodied head...she didn't move or make a sound.

The witness and his companions immediately alerted police and then surrounded the 42-year-old man's vehicle in order to prevent him from leaving the scene.

"It was an accident, it was an accident," the man said as he leaned on the minivan, according to witnesses.

Police and emergency services arrived shortly thereafter and the woman was taken to hospital where she was later pronounced dead.

Meanwhile, officers found the 42-year-old in the stairwell of the apartment building where the couple lived and arrested him on suspicion of murder, with an alternative charge of manslaughter.

According to Aftonbladet, the 33-year-old victim had filed for a divorce from her husband a few weeks ago, but recently withdrew the petition by sending a letter to the district court in Malmö.

Police are conducting a forensic investigation of the couple's apartment, believed to be the scene of the fatal attack, but are releasing few details about the case pending notification of the woman's relatives.

The 42-year-old man has no prior criminal convictions and police had no indications of any known threats against the woman. In addition, the man is father to four of the woman's five children, Aftonbladet reports.

TT/The Local/dl
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