A man and his friend have been arrested after they illegally disposed of the man's mother's body by dumping it into a river in Fujian Province because he didn't have enough money to pay for a funeral.

The 28-year-old Anhui Province native found his mother dead on November 3. Two days later, he and a female friend allegedly threw the body, which was wrapped in two sacks, into the river.

The body of the 66-year-old woman surnamed Zhou was found in the waterway on November 18 in Matou Township, Nan'an City, by a local cleaner, according to Anhui Business.

As the sacks contained three heavy rocks and the body had decomposed, investigators first thought they were dealing with a murder. However, following a nine-day investigation, officers concluded the elderly woman died naturally and her body was then dumped into the river, the report said.

The man told police he took his mother to Nan'an City after the death of his father.

"On discovery of her death, I had less than 1,000 yuan (US$142.90) and I did not know at that time how I could pay for a cremation," the man is alleged to have told police.

"I kowtowed many times before dropping the sack with her body into the water. After the body washed away, I cried a lot standing by the riverbank," the report quoted the man as saying.

"Only when legal procedures are completed will the issue of cremation be discussed," Chen Dinghong, director of Nan'an City Criminal Investigation General Team, told the Strait Metropolitan Daily newspaper.

(Shanghai Daily December 3, 2008)