Couple sells dead daughter as ‘ghost bride’

A couple stands accused of selling the dead body of their 16-year-old daughter, who died by suicide. The girl’s deceased body was allegedly sold as a ‘ghost bride’.

The couple had previously adopted this daughter. An individual has leveled these accusations against them. Upon notification to the police about the incident, authorities discovered 66,000 Yuan (approximately Rs 7.88 lakh) in possession of the couple. However, the police declined to press charges.

This incident has sparked widespread discussions on social media. Originating from Shandong province in China, as per the report by the South China Morning Post, the person making the allegations claims to be the biological father of the deceased girl, whom this couple had adopted. He stated that his daughter Jiaodan tragically took her own life by jumping from the 9th floor of a building in December last year.

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The biological father detailed the troubled relationship he had with his adoptive parents. He and his wife had made the decision to give Xiaodan up for adoption in 2006 due to financial constraints, as they already had twins and lacked the means to support a third child. They used to visit the adoptive couple, posing as relatives, to see their daughter.

According to the allegations, after his daughter’s passing, her body was married off to a deceased man, with money exchanged in the process. It’s important to note that the tradition of ghost marriage, the union of deceased individuals, has existed in China for 3000 years and continues in some less-developed rural areas today.

Believers of this tradition hold that if someone passes away unmarried, they might trouble their surviving relatives because they lack a companion in the afterlife. Therefore, they arrange marriages between deceased individuals to ensure companionship beyond death.