Three arrested for selling dead woman stolen from her grave as bride in 'underworld marriage'

 

China: A gang have been arrested on suspicion of stealing a corpse from a grave to sell as a bride in a " ghost marriage ".

The ancient rite involves a nuptial ceremony between a dead woman and a dead man.

Police in north China's Shanxi Province arrested three people for the grave robbing offence.

 Officers claim the main suspect Hou, 72, admitted the offence and said he was tempted after hearing about the death, reports iCross China .

According to the public security bureau of Ruicheng County the men claimed to be relatives of the woman and found a buyer willing to shell out 25,000 yuan - more than £2,500.

The were caught when villages saw the tomb had been raided and raised the alarm.

The "netherworld marriage" was once a common ceremony in parts of China where it was believed that any man who died unwed would bring bad luck to the family.

He would therefore be buried with a female corpse in a ritual to wed the lifeless bodies.

In 2012 three men murdered a pregnant woman in China and sold her as a ghost bride which caused a national outcry condemning this bizarre tradition.