The husband of a 28-year-old woman in China who was paralysed by a rare disease coaxed her to sell their home, then pocketed the proceeds before vanishing.

“I would rather go to jail than return,” the man later told police.

The case has captivated mainland social media after the Yangtze Evening News reported it.

The woman, surnamed Lin, previously worked as a tour guide in the eastern province of Jiangsu.

In 2017, after four years of marriage, she suddenly felt her legs go numb, a condition that gradually deteriorated.

She was diagnosed with a rare disease of her central nervous system.

Lin became completely paralysed and was unable to take care of herself.