Three funeral home workers in northern China have been detained for stealing the ashes of a dead woman to sell to a local family for an illegal ghost marriage business.
Ghost marriage, banned in China today, is a superstitious activity originating from ancient China with one or both parties of the marriage being deceased. In this practice, the family of a dead man usually finds a spouse — a dead woman — for him and bury the ashes or body of the woman with him as it is believed that a lonely grave would hurt the prosperity of the family’s offspring.
Police in Wenshang county, Shandong, eastern China, put the three workers of the local funeral parlour under criminal detention on the charge of stealing ashes, after receiving a tip-off from one of their colleagues, The Beijing News reported.
According to the report, a worker surnamed Shao switched the ashes after the woman’s body was cremated at the funeral home, while another worker with a surname Lei drove a car to take it out of the funeral facility and a third co-worker surnamed Zhang was responsible for contacting the buyer.
The dead woman was a live-streamer who committed suicide last month by drinking pesticide in front of her audience. Holding a bottle of pesticide, she told her followers the live-streaming show was her last one since she had been suffering from depression for months.
Her relatives later accused several internet users of inciting the woman to drink the pesticide.
Organisers of a ghost marriage can reportedly make profits of up to 70,000 yuan (US$11,000) in the province if the buyer is happy with the dead woman’s background.
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