There is a truly bizarre crime being reported in Beiliu City, China. Two officials were faced with a quota for cremated bodies under a law encouraging this form of disposal over burials. Two short of the quota, the officials reportedly employed a grave robber named Zhong to supply bodies for cremation.
We have seen truly bizarre grave robbing crimes in China in the past, including young girls for ghastly “Ghost wedding” after the death of an unmarried man. This however was to simply have the bodies burned to make a monthly number for two bureaucrats in Guangdong province.
It was not limited to two bodies. Zhong reportedly admitted to stealing more than 20 corpses. What is particularly gruesome is that he would take the bodies on his motorcycle to sell to officials. While that might help with the HOV lanes, it is not a recommended transportation technique for professional grave robbers. Of course, it could always be worse:
The officials nailed in the investigation — surnamed He and Dong — were in charge of funeral management reform. They have also reportedly confessed. After the arrest, Dong appears to have learned that he was actually paying twice the going rate. He bought 10 corpses for 3000 Yuan (nearly $500) each while He only paid 1500 Yuan (about $245) for each body. I guess you cannot trust a grave robber and, like many things in China, you have to bargain with the guy with the corpse on his motorcycle.
Officials indicated that this arrangement may have been “approved” by other officials and was a widespread practice of recycling corpses for cash and cremation.
It would seem the perfect crime since the corpus delicti literally goes up in smoke. However, you are still left with a grave robber riding around with corpses on this motorcycle.
Source: BBC
Leave it to the Chinese for innovation
Paul: Mao be dead. Tombs do not help the dead. He needs to be cremated.
When Ebola gets there there will be plenty of bodies to cremate.
Incentives matter… this reminds me of a story where some government (China? India? I forget) created a program for recycling toxic waste for credits or some monetary equivalent. Some people started mass producing the toxic waste just for the reimbursement. I think this was in the last couple of years, but I don’t feel like digging.
Oh, and Mao is rolling over in his grave.
BarkinDog – Mao is entombed near a large phallic symbol.
With the onset of Communist Capitalism in China we are seeing many things. Too many millionaires spoils the broth. And that is what is coming soon to a theatre near Hong Kong.
There is a big deal in China with the end of burials and the cremation of all remains. This is just part of the mess that has been going on. People have been digging up and moving their relatives bodies, so they will not be cremated. The Chinese government wants the land from the cemetery so they can sell it for development, that is part of the revenue stream of all Chinese governments. However, there has been a lot of push back. And, when you have quotas, we all know that strange things happen in China.
Seeing someone on a motorcycle with a corpse surely would make for an interesting commute.
“Twice the going rate?” I didn’t realize market forces were at work for pricing exhumed bodies. Better sell now before the Zombie Apocalypse floods the market.
I just thought of a game that people could play for fun. One person thinks up a law or regulation or quota scheme and the other players come up with devious ways to get around it. Then the group votes on which avoidance idea is most likely to succeed It could be a really fun game.