Man marries late girlfriend’s ashes in emotional ‘ghost wedding’

A man from Taichung in Taiwan was so distressed over the death of his girlfriend that he recently married her ashes after she had been cremated.

Besides holding a colourful wedding in Hsinchu village, he also had a farewell ceremony in front of dozens of the couple’s friends and family, reports The People’s Daily Online.

The man identified as Mr Lai, is understood to have wanted to show his commitment to his late girlfriend – whose name is not known – by marrying her even after she passed on.

A ‘ghost marriage’, where a dying or dead man is arranged to marry a female corpse to keep him happy in afterlife is not a new phenomenon in Asia.

However, marrying a vase with a wedding dress attached might be taking it to the next level.

A video documenting the ceremony has appeared online and is widely reported.

The 60-second video shows Mr Lai wearing a white suit and dark sunglasses under the white silk altar.

He is tightly holding onto the black-and-gold vase which is filled with incense and has a white wedding dress attached to the lower half of it.

Mr Lai wears white gloves as a wedding band is placed on his finger whilst relatives look on.

Music was placed over the video when it was uploaded online, hence almost impossible to hear what was being said.

The person uniting Mr Lai and his girlfriend’s ashes places a light piece of red cloth over the vase. The camera then cuts to the grieving friends and family outside. All the attendees are wearing white.

After the ceremony they walk through the streets with the incense burning away and get into a wedding car before driving off.

The death of Mr Lai’s girlfriend has not been reported, and it remains a mystery as to how she died.

However, some people in Taiwan have been speculating that she committed suicide after his infidelity.

Her death has sparked controversy in the country as Mr Lai has reportedly refused to talk about its cause.

He, nonetheless, says he had the ‘ghost marriage’ with her ashes to relieve his pain.

‘Ghost marriages’ are an ancient custom in China – but they are now illegal and carry jail sentences of up to three years for anyone who steals a dead female body.

‘Ghost marriages’ are sometimes carried out to fulfill the requirement that a dead man should not pass into the afterlife without a wife.