Russian police investigate ‘Selfies with Corpses’ competition

Police in the Russian Republic of Komi have launched an investigation against an online contest called "Selfies with Corpses," where participants are promised monetary prizes for photographs of themselves standing beside deceased relatives. The competition is apparently headed by a man named Alfred Polyakov, whose Vkontakte account is currently suspended for "suspicious activity."

According to the group's community page on Vkontakte, the contest's organizers are offering rewards ranging from 150 rubles to 5,000 rubles ($2-$75), depending on the location and quality of a person's selfie. "Your photo should show that you're happy because your relative has gone to a better place," the group explains.

Polyakov's group appears to be holding several slightly different "Selfies with Corpses" contests, announced in late July and early August. In some instructions on Vkontakte, for instance, contestants are told to photograph themselves with deceased relatives. In others, however, they're asked to take selfies with anyone but a relative.

A local news website called Progorod11.ru, which has been extremely critical of the "Selfies with Corpses" contest, says Polyakov even encouraged contestants to photograph themselves with the body of a 13-year-old local girl, who died in a car accident on August 5. According to Progorod11.ru, Internet users and residents of Syktyvkar, the capital of the Komi Republic, led an effort to involve the police in the "selfie" campaign, which they say is an affront to grieving families.