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Giving cash as gifts is a tradition at Chinese weddings. Photo: Handout

Chinese woman admits stealing cash given at cousin’s wedding

A woman from eastern China has confessed to taking 10,000 yuan (US$1,520) given as gifts at her cousin’s wedding banquet, according to a newspaper report.

The woman took the cash in red envelopes given to the bride while attending the event in Yingshang county in Anhui province, the Fuyang News reported.

The unnamed woman was quoted as telling police after she was arrested: “If I stole my cousin’s money, does it still count as stealing?”

The wedding feast was held in the town of Nanzhao and the bride discovered the money had been taken from a cabinet where it had been stored, according to the article. Only a handful of change had been left.

The police were called and after officers arrived the bride’s cousin quickly made an excuse and left.

“The two cousins’ relationship seemed very close so her quick departure didn’t look like normal behaviour,” a police officer was quoted as saying.

Police later asked the woman to return to the venue, but she did not show up.

The following morning the cousin returned the money to the bride, admitting she had stolen it to pay for travel tickets to Shanghai.

The bride’s family asked police to drop the case, but they said she had committed an offence and should confess to get a lighter sentence.

The cousin said she stole the money to teach the bride’s family a lesson as she believed they had looked down on her family in the past, the article said.

No details were given of when the wedding took place.

The story went viral on Sina Weibo, China’s equivalent of Twitter.

“No wonder the bride’s family looked down on them,” one person wrote.

Another commented: “Oh well, I guess robbing a bank doesn’t count as stealing then.”

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