China burial reform: elderly woman’s body dug up for cremation by government after burial without family’s consent
- A recent case where a woman was forcibly exhumed from her grave to be cremated has highlighted China’s controversial policy to end traditional burials
- The policy has targeted rural areas where ground burials remain popular as part of a drive to free up land and promote environmentally-friendly burial practices
Amid sweeping funeral reforms to phase out ground burials, authorities in a remote town in southern China have dug up the body of an elderly woman for cremation after her son gave her a traditional burial, the Chuncheng Evening News reported on Tuesday.
A villager surnamed Yang from Datang township of Pingtang county, Guizhou province, southern China, said his mother’s body was removed from her grave and sent to a funeral home soon after her family buried her early last month.
Calling it an insult to the deceased, Yang demanded the return of her body, which he believed is still being kept at the funeral home, and for the family to be compensated financially, the report said.
“I’m OK if they took her away from home, but why did they dig her up after we buried her?” he said.
Ground burial has long been a tradition in most rural areas across China, but a drive to replace it with cremation has swept the country in the past decade as the government encouraged more land-saving, eco-friendly funerals.
The town mayor, a man surnamed Huang, told the Chuncheng Evening News that government workers notified Yang of the new policy on three occasions before the burial and that he refused to comply.