In the rural province of Shanxi in northern China, a particularly peculiar and rather disturbing tradition is once more gaining ground. During the past few years, the practice of "ghost weddings" has seen a significant rise, and together with the custom, the demand for female corpses has experienced a notable increase as well, according to The Telegraph.
The practice traces its roots back almost 3,000, when families in rural China believed that it was bad luck for a single man to leave the physical realm without a wife. Thus, in order to prevent the man's spirit from becoming restless, family members would usually provide a female corpse to be buried with him.
Due to its ghoulish nature, the practice was eventually outlawed by the ruling Communist Party. However, with the increase in wealth of people in rural China, the practice of digging up corpses of women to be the unwitting companion of a single man to the afterlife has experienced a resurgence, reports The Independent.
In the Shanxi province alone, at least 30 corpses have been reported missing over the past three years. A number of men have been arrested on allegations of grave robbing as well. Apart from this, a man was arrested in 2011 after murdering his wife in order to sell her remains as a corpse bride.
Families who have re-embraced the ancient practice are required to dish out quite a lot of cash, as a corpse which is freshly buried might cost the family about $15,300. Even those who have already been buried for decades and who are already skeletons could still fetch a decent price, about $750, reports The Examiner.
Due to the resurgence of the practice, residents of Shanxi have resorted to a number of measures in order to prevent grave robbers from exhuming and selling their loved ones as corpse brides. Some have reinforced their loved ones' graves with concrete, while other wealthier families have installed CCTV cameras and hired night watchers in order to keep a close eye on their loved ones' tombs.
