Wealthy Class Searches for Corpse to Apply Makeup Amid Store Ban Law
18 Million Won Received from Crime
A coffin being embalmed. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A shocking case has come to light in China where a living person was kidnapped, forced to drink strong liquor, disguised as a corpse, and then cremated.
According to the South China Morning Post (SCMP) in Hong Kong on the 13th, on March 1, 2017, Lin Xiaoren (then 36 years old, male), who had Down syndrome, was kidnapped by a stranger while picking up trash near his home in Lufeng City, Guangdong Province, China.
The kidnapper forced Xiaoren to drink a large amount of strong liquor, then placed him unconscious in a coffin and sealed it with four nails.
The kidnapper committed the crime on behalf of a wealthy family who requested "to obtain a corpse for cremation."
About a month before the incident, one member of the client family had died of cancer.
The deceased had left a will saying, "Do not cremate me, please bury me." However, the local government was enforcing a burial ban policy.
The bereaved family decided to obtain a corpse for cremation instead of burying the deceased to evade the law.
The kidnapper, who received the request through a broker, kidnapped a living person and placed him in a coffin instead of obtaining a corpse.
According to Guangdong Province cremation regulations, funeral service staff are supposed to verify the identity of the deceased before cremation, but the regulations were not followed.
Thus, Xiaoren passed away in this manner.
The client family paid 107,000 yuan (about 18 million KRW) for the purchase of the corpse. The kidnapper received 90,000 yuan (about 15 million KRW), and the broker took 17,000 yuan (about 3 million KRW).
The crime was uncovered two years later when Xiaoren’s family, searching for his whereabouts, discovered the kidnapping through closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and other means.
The kidnapper was sentenced to death with a reprieve by the Sanwei City local court in September 2020. He appealed to the regional high court, but the appeal was dismissed in December last year.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
