Dozens of corpses stolen for alleged college guarantee  

乡村数十具尸体被盗 有盗墓者称盗尸可保儿子上大学

A villager named Chen Zuqing hired two guards to protect his wife's body for a month after she was buried on Sept. 27. But the corpse was stolen the first day after the two guards left, Chen said.

(ECNS) -- Dozens of female corpses have been stolen in a southwest China village in the past several years, some of which reappeared days later, but dismembered, the Chengdu-based West China City Daily reported.

The newspaper said a woman's corpse was stolen Sunday in Zhuxi village, Dazhou city of Sichuan province, the latest among a series of cases troubling local villagers since the year 2000.

A villager named Chen Zuqing hired two guards to protect his wife's body for a month after she was buried on Sept. 27. But the corpse was stolen the first day after the two guards left, Chen said.

Tang Fang, another villager, said her aunt's corpse was stolen the second day after it was buried last year, but was found in a field that same afternoon.

A villager surnamed Wang said most of the stolen corpses have been female.

According to the village's party secretary, a corpse thief who was captured in 2008 had said he was told by a fortune-teller to steal corpses to guarantee that his son would get into college. Tang said the thief has worked in Zhejiang since being released from prison.

A villager surnamed Li suggested that young villagers should keep watch over corpses, but no one volunteered.