KEY POINTS:
Chinese police have arrested seven members of a gang suspected of murdering more than 100 disabled or elderly people and selling their corpses in a bizarre scheme to avoid cremations.
Burials have traditionally been seen as the most respectful way to handle the dead in China, but were discouraged after the communists came to power in 1949 to conserve farmland and eradicate superstition.
The bodies were bought by wealthy families and sent for cremation in lieu of deceased relatives who were then secretly buried, the South China Morning Post reported. Corpses would sell for 10,000 yuan ($2132) each.
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