Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen on a counter of a branch of a commercial bank in Beijing, March 30, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

SOME FISHERMEN in North China's Shanxi province fished out from a river the body of a woman who had apparently drowned in an upstream county in neighboring Shaanxi province. But they refused to hand over the body to the family members unless they were paid 100,000 yuan ($15,000). Gmw.com commented on Friday:

Holding a body to ransom is a cold-blooded act. And hiding the body under a bridge until the dead woman's family paid the greedy fishermen the amount they demanded is a brazen act of inhumanity.

The poor family offered the fishermen 60,000 yuan as "collection fee" but they refused.

That the fishermen refused to negotiate the price they had "fixed" even after local officials intervened highlights the need to bring such blatant offenders to book.

The law says anyone seeking to exploit and/or damage a dead person's body should be booked for causing mental damage to the family members and relatives of the deceased.

In Shanxi's case, the woman's family members have enough reason to sue the fishermen for their inhuman act.

Local police and other public service providers are obliged to collect the bodies of those who die in accidents. But it should also be made clear how much, if at all, people who fish out a body can and should be paid.

These points should be incorporated in the law as soon as possible. The law should also specify the punishments for those who hold bodies to ransom.