PURBALINGGA (Indonesia) - INDONESIAN cannibal Sumanto loves meat so much he dug up an old woman's body for a cheap and 'tasty' meal.

'She was delicious,' he told AFP from his room at a Muslim mental rehabilitation centre in rural Central Java. 'I love meat... all types of meat as long as it's cooked. But I don't eat people anymore. Now I eat spinach,' he added.

In many countries, the 37-year-old farmer from Palumutan village would be receiving specialised psychiatric care in a secure facility.

Not in Indonesia. Here, he spent five years behind bars in a regular prison for theft (of the body) and causing distress to the community, and was released straight back into his remote village with no follow-up care.

His neighbours were horrified and rejected him, so he was taken in by the nearby centre for religious guidance, one of many privately-run community services which fill the yawning gap for mental health care in Indonesia.

'Nobody wanted him. Villagers called him 'The Cannibal' and were absolutely terrified of him,' centre director Supono Mustajab said.

Back at the religious centre in Purbalingga, which is next to Sumanto's home village of Palumutan, staff said Sumanto was violent and depressed after his release from prison in 2006.

'Prison life was not good for him. He wouldn't eat or drink and he was bad-tempered. We had to guard his room night and day so he wouldn't disturb others,' Mr Mustajab said.

Like other 'stressed minds and broken hearts' at the centre, he was taught to recite the Koran and encouraged to play sport, farm and fish to relieve stress.

'Now he's better. Tenants pay to stay here but I fork out my own money to support poor ones like Sumanto. They're human beings too,' Mr Mustajab said. -- AFP