A Chinese man was arrested after a viral photo of his posing with the corpse of his murdered girlfriend went viral on social media in China.

The police later nabbed the culprit after the man identified as Qin posted a selfie with his girlfriend's deadbody on WeChat with a caption "please forgive my selfish love", People's Daily Online reported.

Local authorities said that the murder took place on 6 September in Nanning, southern China after Qin and his girlfriend – Lin, got into a heated argument.

Qin then took a selfie with the corpse and put it up on his WeChat account along with other pictures of the couple from happier times.

The haunting image showed Lin with eyes closed, with a handsaw visible in the background. Chinese authorities are yet to release full details of the case.

The picture soon went viral on social media in China, following which a nine-hour manhunt took place leading to the arrest of the culprit.