Only In China Department

This is pretty bizarre even for China, where anything goes if it makes a buck. I reprint the whole as it's behind a paywall at the South China Morning Post. I'll also point out that it's still being investigated and it looks as though the original source was some scurrilous HK newspaper so several pinches of salt should be taken while reading.

Corpse-selling gang held for killing 100 frail victims in Guangdong
Fiona Tam
Updated on Sep 02, 2008
More than 100 disabled or elderly people may have been murdered by a gang in Puning , Guangdong province, and their corpses sold for cremation to families wanting to bury their dead.

Puning government and police spokesmen said yesterday wealthy people who did not want their dead relatives cremated had bought the corpses of the murder victims to replace their relatives' bodies, which were later interred according to traditional customs.

Burial was a widespread tradition in China for several thousand years, and many Chinese believe it demonstrates a respect for the deceased that will be repaid with blessings and protection for the living.

But the mainland outlawed the tradition in the 1950s and enforced cremation to eradicate superstitions and save on farmland, a move that many critics blame for the rise in the black-market corpse trade. They also say the policy shows no respect for folk customs and values.

An officer from the Puning Public Security Bureau who declined to give his name said about seven suspects were arrested three weeks ago when police discovered the gang during a homicide investigation. A bureau spokesman said the suspects were being interrogated and the case was still under investigation.

A Hong Kong newspaper reported yesterday that nine people from Nanxi town in Puning were arrested, and that the victim toll could exceed 100.

The report said suspects would trail victims, usually mentally disabled or elderly, drag them into vehicles in remote areas and either strangle or poison them.

Corpses would be sold for 10,000 yuan (HK$11,438) each and substituted for cremation.

The report said the Jieyang funeral home confirmed it had collected many bodies from a site since identified by police as the gang's headquarters.

Liu Hongbo , a newspaper columnist based in Wuhan , said the strict cremation system violated traditional cultural values, and encouraged corpse sellers and buyers.

"Obviously, buyers knew those bodies were people murdered by the suspects, but both parties simply treated life as a commodity to be used in their interests," Liu said.

"Being afraid of cremation can never be a reason to murder someone ... It exposes a gruesome side of our society and deserves careful examination by authorities and the people."

In 2004, a man from neighbouring Jiexi county in Guangdong was arrested for murdering 10 people and selling the corpses to the rich.