adminpractice where dead women are united with bachelors to stop them wandering the afterlife alone.
It is not clear whether the bodies of the women were recovered.
Local news reports said the gang were sentenced to between 28 and 32 months in prison. China’s Communists attempted to stamp out some traditions such as “ghost marriages” after taking control in 1949.
Although rare, the practice has regained popularity in recent years in some parts of China. The practice is normally agreed between two families, but this group “stole female corpses and after cleaning them, fabricated medical files for the deceased and sold them for a high price,” according to The National.
The gang made £25 000 from the sales. The court in the northern province of Shaanxi said the gang abused the “bad tradition” of ghost marriages.
Officials have failed to eradicate the tradition and a thriving underground industry now exists in some parts of the country.
Last year, another gang of grave robbers were caught trying to sell a dead woman days after her family had already tried to use her as a ghost bride.
The woman’s body was snatched and the gang of five offered the woman to another family for £3 000 before being caught. In 2007, a man was arrested after killing and then selling six women. He claimed that “killing people and selling their bodies is less work than stealing them from graves.”
The ancient tradition of ghost marriages is performed for many reasons including uniting a couple who were previously engaged before one member died or to ensure a family line in continued. – Daily Mail.
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