Young Chinese couple drown themselves in river after woman’s family object to their marriage

A young couple in their 20s from western China drowned themselves in a river because her family objected to them getting married, according to a newspaper report.

The woman’s mother had said the man or his family had to buy a home for the couple as part of the financial agreement for the marriage, the West China City Daily reported.

The man came from a poor family and the couple’s bodies were later found in a river in Meishan in Sichuan province last week.

The woman’s mother had visited her boyfriend’s house earlier this month to discuss the marriage, the report said.

“She asked my family to pay the bride price in full,” the man’s father was quoted as saying. “Our family to buy the house, her family to buy the furnishings.”

The father explained his family did not have the money because his wife was ill, but the mother took her daughter away saying the couple should not contact each other again.