A judicial source said the woman was arrested on May 22 in the northern French town of Longwy, describing her as "the female Hannibal Lecter", after the fictional cannibal in thriller "The Silence of the Lambs".

The woman killed her 80-year-old husband with a kitchen mortar she used for grinding spices then "cooked his heart, nose and genital organs in a pot but we don't know if she ate them," the source said.

She was arrested by police the following morning covered in her husband's blood and flesh. A neighbour had apparently raised the alarm after being visited bythe woman shortly after she carried out the horrific act.

Her lawyer, Caroline Depretz, said the woman suffered from delusions. "Obviously it was a fit of madness," she said.

The woman was being held in a prison psychiatric unit and was to undergo tests to determine if she can held responsible for her actions.

Last November The Local reported a similarly grisly tale of a former French soldier who killed a 90-year-old in a quiet village in southern France, before ripping out his heart and tongue with the intention of eating them.

The young homeless man attacked the elderly man in a tiny hamlet, smashing his head with a metal object, and then extracted his heart and tongue to cook and eat.

Some remains of the cooked meat were found on a plate with some beans.

The suspect assaulted another man, breaking his shoulder, before being arrested.

Psychiatric tests after the arrest showed the man suffered from delusions.