VIENNA, May 3 — A Viennese man arrested over the discovery of a headless body in an Austrian lake has confessed to keeping a frozen piece of the corpse "to taste”, prosecutors said yesterday.

The man, who was arrested on Friday, is thought to have been known to the dead woman, whose torso was found at the bottom of the shallow Neusiedl lake on April 13.

The body is thought to have been in the lake, which is popular with water sports enthusiasts, for several months.

Police divers later located the head. Other parts of the victim’s body were found in the suspect’s apartment in Vienna.

"He intended to taste them at a later date,” said a spokeswoman for the prosecutor’s office in Eisenstadt.

The woman, thought to be aged between 20 and 30, has not been identified but several newspapers have reported that investigators believe she was a Czech or a Slovak prostitute.

Officers have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

The suspect has previously served time in prison for a crime of a sexual nature, according to officials. — AFP