Murderer kidnapped Chinese man to sell his body for cremation so another family could have a traditional burial
- A man with Down’s syndrome was kidnapped, drugged and nailed inside a coffin that was then cremated in the place of a deceased man from a wealthy family
- China has been pushing cremation because it is seen as more environmentally friendly, but traditional burial remains popular
The convicted man, identified by his surname Huang, was hired by a wealthy family in 2017 in Lufeng, Guangdong province who did not want to cremate a deceased relative, to find a substitute body for the cremation, according to the case verdict from Guangdong Higher People’s Court.
The deceased man whose family wanted a traditional burial, also surnamed Huang, died from cancer in February, 2017, and told his family before he died that he wished to be buried, according to the verdict.
The victim, a man called Lin Shaoren who was then 36 and had Down’s syndrome, was picking rubbish along the road on March 1, 2017, near his home in Lufeng when Huang abducted him and made him drink a large volume of liquor.
He then placed the unconscious Lin into a coffin prepared in advance and sealed it with four steel nails, Huang told the court.
The coffin was carried to a crossroad and swapped with the other Huang’s coffin two days later when the family was due to send it to the funeral home.