A man faked his death hoping the insurance payout would cover his daughter’s medical bills. His wife, devastated by what she believed to be his death, then did something unspeakable, hoping to “reunite their family”.

Mrs Dai, a 34-year-old mother of two in rural Hunan province, southeast China, was naturally devastated when she heard of her husband’s sudden, and totally unexpected, death.

She was told by police in early September 2018 that a car, rented under her husband, Mr He’s, name, had been found submerged in a river. Although a body could not be found, they believed he had committed suicide.

Mr He was in over 100,000 yuan (£10,500) of debt left by predatory loans he had taken out from online lenders in order to cover his three-year-old daughter’s medical bills, who suffered from severe epilepsy.

Although Mr He’s death meant these debts, as well as the care of their sickly daughter, fell solely into Mrs Dai’s hands, she was also informed that her husband had taken out an insurance plan worth one million yuan (£110,000) without her knowledge, leaving her as the sole beneficiary.

But she struggled to wrestle with the grief and, three weeks after Mr He’s disappearance, her body was found in a pond near the family’s home, alongside that of her daughter and her son, who was four.

Police determined she had committed a double murder-homicide, drowning the children in the murky waters before drowning herself.

In a suicide note she had posted to the Chinese social media site WeChat, she had expressed a desire to reunite their family in death and fears that, if she left her children alive, they would be shunned from society.

She wrote: “I wanted to leave alone, but without their parents, my son and daughter will be in pain and will be bullied like me.”

The post quickly went viral in China as the case turned into a national sensation.

China is one of the few countries in the world where suicide rates are higher for women than for men. This is especially true in rural areas like Hunan, where there are economic opportunities and social support networks are scarce.

But the case was to take one more turn. Just one day after the horrific deaths of the mother and her children, Mr He handed himself over to police, admitting he had faked his own death to escape his debts. He had hoped his insurance policy would help treat his daughter’s condition.

Before handing himself in, Mr He posted a video online, explaining through tears that he had planned to go into hiding before retrieving his wife and children so they could start a new life.

Critically, he had not told his wife of these plans.

In the video, Mr He pleads: “My daughter, who is ill, has to get medical checks every month. I have to pay off car loans, and our family expenses. I’m also sick. I did this to avoid debts. I never thought my wife would be so infatuated with me.”

This video too went viral. The hashtag #ManFakesDeathLeadingtoWifesDeath was viewed over 29 million times on microblogging site Weibo.

Mr He was charged with insurance fraud and intentional damage of property.

The incident has sparked nationwide debates in China about online loans and the pressures put on women in rural regions.

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