KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 ― Three men in Hunan province, China have been arrested for stealing the ashes of a Chinese influencer for a ghost marriage.

The influencer, using the handle Luoxiaomaomaozi, had committed suicide in Wenshang county in Jining city, East China's Shandong Province, by drinking pesticide during a livestream after being prompted by social media users, Global Times reported.

After her body was cremated, a funeral home worker identified by his surname Shao stole the woman's ashes.

Shao had conspired with two other funeral home workers, surnamed Zhang and Lei, to look for a buyer for the ashes.

The plan, however, did not take off as there were no buyers.

An industry source reportedly revealed that some undertakers make a profit of between 50,000 Yuan (RM32,925) and 70,000 Yuan (RM46,095) if a ghost marriage is successful.

A ghost marriage is a folk custom in some regions in China where people arrange a marriage for the dead because they believe that even the dead need to get married to maintain the prosperity of their offspring.