A mother in China has killed herself because her son’s fiancée was too short, according to a government statement.
The 47-year-old woman’s corpse was found on November 17 in a river in Ningling County, Henan Province.
After seeing the woman’s remains, her emotional husband jumped into the river and his son also plunged in to save him. Both were immediately rescued by the police.
Ms Lin’s body was found in a river in Ningling County, Henan Province on November 17
Local authority said the woman killed herself because she didn’t like her son’s short partner
Previous reports indicated that the woman committed suicide because she couldn’t afford the expensive betrothal gifts demanded by his son’s fiancée, reported People’s Daily.
Du Chuanfeng, a local police officer, claimed that her son’s fiancée had asked her future in-laws to buy a new car, but the couple didn’t have enough money to do so.
Mr Du said he rescued the woman’s husband and her son from the river.
The Propaganda Department of Ningling County however has denied the claims.
In a post on their official social media account yesterday, the authority said the mother killed herself because she was unhappy about her son’s fiancée’s height.
After seeing the woman’s remains, her emotional husband jumped into the river. Her son also plunged into the water to save his father. The two men were immediately saved by the police
Previous reports claimed the couple couldn’t afford the expensive betrothal gifts demanded by the son’s partner, but the government has denied the allegations in a statement yesterday
The woman has been identified as 47-year-old Ms Lin and her husband has been identified as 46-year-old Mr Gao.
The statement read: ‘The dead person, Ms Lin, had disagreement with her son regarding her son’s engagement.
‘Her son’s partner came from the same town as the family. Ms Lin did not like her son’s partner, claiming she was too short.
‘She threatened to kill herself.’
The woman was said to have taken her life ‘on a sudden impulse’ after passing a local river on her scooter.
The woman’s husband, Mr Gao, and her son are yet to release a statement.
For confidential support call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
Expensive weddings lead to even more single men in China
China is likely to see more bachelors in the coming years as many of them are finding it too expensive to get married.
Statistics show a wedding ceremony costs 100,000 Yuan (£10,993) on average in rural China while the average yearly income for a Chinese person was revealed to be 10,489 yuan (£1,151).
Couples stand in line as they are married in a mass wedding in Beijing (file photo)
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China’s sex ratio was 115 men to 100 women.
Experts say the gap could leave 30 million Chinese men single by 2020.
Betrothal gifts are becoming big business as families realise they can use their daughters to claim a substantial amount of cash.