Chinese local media reports that two Chinese officials bought corpses from grave robbers in order to meet a government quota on cremations, this is as a result of a new government policy to allow land meant for burials, to be used for farming or development.
According to ABC news:
Xinhua news agency reports officials from Guangdong province bought the bodies from a man who stole more than 20 in night-time raids on graveyards.
“Both were local officials in charge of funeral management reform,” said Xinhua, naming them He and Dong.
“They told police that they bought the corpses to finish government cremation quota,” it said, adding that Dong had paid $484 each for 10 bodies, while He’s cost half the price for an unspecified number.
Authorities had demanded a minimum number of cremations in the unspecified towns where Dong and He worked, but residents had begun burying dead relatives in secret to bypass the regulations.
