A dead man's children vented their anger at him for abandoning them and their mother 40 years ago by dragging his body out of his coffin at his funeral, Headline Daily reported.

The incident happened in Tai An town, located in Yangzhou city in China's Jiangsu province.

The elderly man had reportedly passed away of illness on Dec. 27, 2019.

"Won't let you off even though you're dead!"

In a video that captured the incident, a man and a woman, who were supposedly the deceased's children, could be seen opening the coffin and dragging the corpse out.

They even slapped the man's face a few times after opening the lid of the coffin.

After leaving their father's body on the floor, the two of them raised their voices at him for almost a minute.

It was reported that one of them said, "Since you didn't let me have a good life when you were alive, now that you're dead, I won't let you off either!"

Man abandoned family 40 years ago

Villagers claimed that the man had a son and a daughter before he passed away, but had abandoned them more than 40 years ago to live with his girlfriend in the same village.

The children were then single-handedly brought up by their mother, the villagers added.

Man's girlfriend asked his children to pay for his funeral

After he passed away, his girlfriend then contacted his children, and showed them his death certificate.

She also requested them to pay for his funeral costs.

The children were infuriated, as they felt it was unreasonable to expect them to help the man after he died, especially since he caused them much pain and suffering while he was alive.

However, the local police, who are currently investigating the case, have yet to confirm the veracity of this claim.

Most netizens say children are unfilial

The incident provoked strong reactions among commenters on Chinese social media site Weibo, with most of them berating the children for their perceived unfilial act to their biological father.

"Are they still human? Damn!!!"

"Whatever the reason (for doing this), this is immoral."

"They should be sued for desecrating a corpse! The dead are above everything else, he can't rest in peace."

However, there were some commenters who thought the children should not be judged for what they did as bystanders do not understand their circumstances.

"This dead man did not look after his children when he was young, abandoned his wife and kids for 40 years, and lived with another person.

Now that he's dead, his girlfriend faked a death certificate (such a certificate requires the signatures of his biological children) and asked his children to pay for his funeral fees. It's best not to comment on others' lives when you don't know what they've been through."

You can watch the censored footage here:

Top image adapted via Weibo Video/YouTube