Arrested: Ayou has been accused of double murder

A woman in China has been accused of killing her husband and mother-in-law, before trying to sell her babies for £7,000 each.

Mail-order bride Ayou, 21, was bought for little more than £3,000 from Vietnam by 32-year-old Lai Binghao and his father, Lai Shehui.

She was arranged to be married to Lai Binghao and less than a year after the nuptials, Ayou gave birth to twins, according to People’s Daily Online.

Her mother-in-law moved into the couple's home in Chaozhou in South China's Guangdong province, to help look after the two baby boys.

But when Lai Shehui went to visit the family on March 2, he found his wife and son tied up and strangled in bed.

Ayou, given her name because her husband's family could not read her photocopied identity documents, and her babies were missing.

Twins: The baby boys were born less than a year after Vietnemese Ayou and Chinese Lai Binghao were married

Grieving: When Lai Shehui (pictured) went to visit the family on March 2, he found his wife and son tied up and strangled in bed

CHINESE BACHELORS BUY BRIDES Buying wives from abroad has become increasingly common in some of China's poor rural areas, where a gender imbalance has developed due to a traditional preference for sons and the country's family planning policies. Across China, 118 males are born for every 100 females, according to government statistics. In some rural areas, men can be expected to own a house, car and have considerable wealth before they can attract a Chinese bride. But with many unable to do so, the trade in overseas brides, which is often linked to human trafficking, has grown in China. Advertisement

In less than 24 hours, Chaozhou Public Security Bureau arrested Ayou on suspicion of murder.

On March 4, police took her to the scene of the crime and the twins were found in a nearby town where they were being sold for £7,000 each.

Grieving Lai Shehui said: 'The children are not even 3 months old.

'Their father and grandma are dead and their mother is in prison. How can I bring them up on my own?'

Police believe Ayou and three Vietnamese men strangled her husband and mother-in-law. Others involved in the trafficking of the babies have also been arrested.

The marriage between Ayou and Lai Binghao was set up by a Vietnamese marriage arranger.