On September 9, a 37-year-old man, Lu Thanh Nam, a resident of Thanh Hoa province of Vietnam, stole his uncle’s bones from his grave and used them to extort money from his family. According to reports, the man attempted to extort 5 billion Vietnamese dong from his extended family to settle his gambling debts. This incident has ignited fear and garnered a lot of attention among the public on social media.

He dug a 20-centimetre hole in the grave of his uncle to steal his bones. He stole his uncle’s bones and left the remains hidden under a heap of garbage. Then, the next day, he sent a threatening message to his cousin Luu Thanh Hoi’s wife using an unknown phone number and demanded payment for the return of the bones. He also warned his cousin’s family not to report this incident to the police.

After receiving this threatening message, Hoi’s family checked the grave and found a hole in the coffin cap, leading them to inform the authorities immediately.

After the police investigated the scene, they discovered that 37-year-old Lu Thanh Nam was the perpetrator. Later, he confessed his crime after proper interrogation. He cited he conducted this activity to overcome his gambling debt. However, the police recovered the stolen bones and returned them to the family. On September 12, Lu Thanh Nam was arrested for grave violation and extortion, with detailed penalties that are yet to be unveiled. Particularly, penalties for grave violations in Vietnam can be up to 7 years in prison, and those convicted for extortion may face sentences of up to 20 years, depending on the amount involved.

According to Vietnamese tradition, disturbing a grave is considered highly disrespectful and it is believed that digging up a grave can cause unrest to the deceased’s soul, impacting the lives of people. So, Mr Hoi reinterred his father’s remains according to local customs, hoping to restore peace to the spirit.