Woman kills herself and her children after her husband fakes his own death

On October 11, 2018, a 31-year old Chinese woman drowned herself and her two children — four and three years old, respectively.

She thought her husband had drowned in his borrowed car — unknown to her, he faked his own death to claim an insurance compensation he took without her knowledge.

According to Voice of China, she drowned herself at a pond near their home. Her name was Mrs. He. She posted a suicide note on WeChat before she took her own life.

Upon learning of his family’s death, her husband, Mr. He turned himself in to police in Xinhua county, Hunan province on October 12, 2018. Earlier that day, he had posted a video, crying about his losses.

He had been presumed dead after a car he borrowed was found in a river On September 19, though his body was never found.

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According to the BBC, in early September, he took out an insurance policy worth One Million Yuan (£110,000; $145,000) without his wife’s knowledge — but she was the named the beneficiary of the policy.

He was found to have over 100, 000 Yuan in debts from loans.

The incident has since sparked conversations about financial pressures and familial issues on Weibo and Wechat, and the hashtag #ManFakesDeathLeadingtoWifesDeath been viewed almost 29 million times on microblogging site Weibo.

Some have been sympathetic towards him, but BBC Monitoring’s Kerry Allen called his apology, “insincere.”