A man has been arrested on suspicion of burning and decapitating his ex-wife - after he was spotted walking with her head in his hand in the Israeli town of Tiberias.

The strictly-Orthodox man was seen walking around with the head in his hands by locals close to an apartment that was engulfed in flames in Nachmani Street.

Police found the victim, who was in her 30s, burnt and headless inside the building.

An eyewitness told Maariv newspaper that the man was seen in the street holding the victim's head.

They said: "A young Charedi man was walking around the street with his wife's head in his hands, covered in blood. No one understood what was going on and why he had so much blood on him."

Police arrested the man close to the scene of the tragic incident on Thursday.

Tiberias Mayor Yossi Ben David told Haaretz that the couple divorced recently and that the suspect had received services from the city's mental health department.

Mr Ben David said the man had immigrated to Israel a few years ago before converting to Judaism.

In a statement the Magen David Adom emergency medical service said: “At 12.13pm [we were] informed about a dead woman with severe signs of violence. Paramedics determined the death of a woman in her 30s.”