clipped from: news.yahoo.com   

BEIJING (Reuters) - Striptease send-offs at funerals may become a thing of the past in east China after five people were arrested for organizing the intimate farewells, state media reported on Wednesday.


Reuters
Police crack down on striptease funerals...


A stripper dances round a pole at a strip club in Johannesburg, South Africa, February 2, 2006. Striptease send-offs at funerals may become a thing of the past in east China after five people were arrested for organizing the intimate farewells, state media reported on Wednesday. (Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters)

Police swooped last week after two groups of strippers gave "obscene performances" at a farmer's funeral in Donghai County, Jiangsu province, Xinhua news agency said.


The disrobing served a higher purpose, the report noted.


"Striptease used to be a common practice at funerals in Donghai's rural areas to allure viewers," it said. "Local villagers believe that the more people who attend the funeral, the more the dead person is honored."


Wealthy families often employed two troupes of performers to attract a crowd. Two hundred showed up at last week's funeral.