The Family of Falun Dafa Practitioner Mr. Tao Hongsheng Suffers Tragic Experience (Photo)

Falun Dafa practitioners Mr. Tao Hongsheng and Ms. Yu Fengyun from Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province have been repeatedly persecuted by the local officials. As a result, Mr. Tao was tortured to death on September 20, 2000 and his wife Ms. Yu Fengyun is still imprisoned. For the past several years, their two daughters have been dependent on each other for survival.

Falun Dafa practitioner Mr. Tao Hongsheng from Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province was tortured to death on September 20, 2000

Mr. Tao, his wife and their two daughters Ms. Tao Lili (now 24 years old) and Ms. Tao Yufei (now 20 years old) lived in Shijiazhuang City. Mr. Tao worked at the Hebei National Security Office and Ms. Yu was a housewife. In 1996, the whole family started to practise Falun Dafa. Mr. Tao's nephritis improved and Ms. Yu's gynecological disease disappeared without medical treatment. They were a happy family be
fore the persecution began.

On July 20, 1999, Jiang Zemin's regime began its frenzied persecution of Falun Gong.

Mr. Tao and his family had benefited from the practice of Falun Dafa and believed that the persecution only occurred because the government did not know the truth about Falun Dafa. Like thousands of other practitioners, Mr. Tao and Ms. Yu went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Dafa, and for that, they have endured endless difficulties and all kinds of torture.

In December 1999, Mr. Tao, his wife and their daughter Ms. Tao Lili went to appeal in Beijing. The moment they arrived at Tiananmen Square, they were spotted by plainclothes policemen. When Mr. Tao unfolded a banner, a group of plainclothes police rushed over and forcefully pushed them into a police car. They were then taken to a big house with walls on three sides and iron bars on the fourth side. There were more than one hundred practitioners detained in the house. The police then brutally tortured practitioners. It was a cold December in Beijing, and the police tortured practitioners by pouring cold water on their neck. They also physically and verbally abused practitioners, and slandered Teacher Li and burned Dafa books in front of them.

In the evening, the Tao family was transferred to the Shijiazhuang office branch in Beijing. One policeman got drunk and used a rope to whip Mr. Tao's daughter until she was covered with bruises. The next day, all three family members were sent back to Shijiazhuang City. Mr. Tao's workplace kept him apart from his wife and daughter by having Ms. Yu and Ms. Tao Lili detained at the police station. In an attempt to have both mother and daughter renounce Falun Dafa and tell the police who organized the appeal activities, the police threatened and tried to entice them with material gain. During this time, the youngest daughter, who was in junior high school, was left alone at home. Ms. Tao Lili was later bailed out by her school to take part in an exam. She also had to shoulder the responsibility of supporting the family while her parents were detained.

At the police station, Ms. Yu Fengyun went on several hunger strikes, which lasted for more than a month, to protest her unjust detention. She was subsequently released.

On January 7, 2000, Mr. Tao was sentenced to three years of forced labour and fired from his job. The family lost their only source of income and had to rely on the limited savings they had. This made life difficult for Ms. Yu and her daughters, who were still in school. However, this was not difficult to endure compared to the constant harassment and threats from the police. On sensitive dates such as anniversaries of major events and big political meetings, the police would "invite" Ms. Yu to the police station. If she refused to go to the police station, they would order someone to abduct her. One time, Ms. Yu and her youngest daughter were at home when the police came and dragged her out of her house. They did not allow her to put on her coat or shoes, even though it was wintertime. The daughter cried and tried to stop the police from taking her mother away, but to no avail. Abductions like this often happened to practitioners. Now, every time the doorbell or the telephone rings, the two daughters get scared. The persecution has traumatised them both physically and mentally.

On September 17, 2000, Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp notified Ms. Yu that her husband was hospitalized. She and her daughters were shocked to hear the news since Mr. Tao had been a healthy person since practising Falun Dafa. Why then, was he dying after being detained in a labour camp for less than a year? The three of them hurriedly went to the hospital and found that he was emaciated. He was also too weak to talk and was still handcuffed and under surveillance. That same day, Ms. Yu brought her husband home in hopes that he would gradually recover. Sadly and unexpectedly, Mr. Tao passed away on the third day after returning home. His death was a heavy blow to the family, particularly for the youngest daughter.

One morning in August 2001, the two daughters got up and found that their mother was not in the house. They felt something was wrong and waited for her return, but she still did not show up in the evening. On the third day, policemen came to the house, intending to conduct an illegal search. The two sisters locked the door and did not let them in. The police waited for more than an hour before they left.

It was not until two years later that the daughters would see their mother again. After Ms. Yu was sentenced to forced labour, the youngest daughter was left at home to care for herself the majority of the time because her older sister could not return home often from school. When they had some time, the daughters went to visit their mother and brought her things that she may need. The forced labour camp, however, did not allow them to see their mother because she practised Falun Gong. The things they brought to their mother were opened up for inspection. During this period of time, all of the family's savings were used up and the two sisters were only able to make it with the financial support of kindhearted people and other Falun Dafa practitioners. They also financially helped the oldest daughter finish her studies.

After Ms. Yu was detained at the forced labour camp for two years, the daughters went to pick her up. Due to the cruel torture she suffered, their mother was just skin and bones, and her daughters could hardly recognize her. During her detention, she endured tortures that include sleep deprivation, constant surveillance, not being allowed to use the toilet, and physical and verbal abuse for doing the Falun Gong exercises.

After Ms. Yu returned home, the family was still harassed by the police. During the so-called "sensitive periods," the police would either make phone calls or go to their house in person. In October 2003, less than three months after her release from the forced labour camp, Ms. Yu was abducted again and taken to a brainwashing centre. She was detained there for several months. She was forced to watch programmes that slandered Falun Dafa. If she did the Falun Dafa exercises, she was deprived of sleep. During that time, Ms. Yu's thighs were covered with bruises from being repeatedly pinched. She was also brutally force-fed because she was on a hunger strike for nearly a month. The police tortured her to the brink of death.

Before the Chinese New Year, the daughters went to the centre to request the release of their mother so that they could spend Chinese New Year together. They had not spent the New Year together for three years. The brainwashing centre, however, denied their request.

Ms. Yu was finally released in March of 2004.

At the end of November 2004, Ms. Yu and another practitioner went to Baotou City to distribute leaflets exposing the persecution; however, they were arrested on the following day after they arrived in the city. The daughters learned that Ms. Yu was held at the Guchengwan Detention Centre and that she was on hunger strike to protest the persecution. They sent her clothes, but were not allowed to visit her. Later, they learned that Ms. Yu did not get the clothes they sent her. She spent the winter in thin clothes. Currently Ms. Yu Fengyun is still detained at the Guchengwan Detention Centre and her daughters are not allowed to visit her. It was learned that the officials may be intent on sentencing her.

The units responsible for detaining Ms. Yu Fengyun:
Jiuyuan Branch Office of the Baotou City Police Department: 86-472-7166419, 86-472-7166423, 86-472-7166422; post code: 014060
Guchengwan Detention Centre, Baotou City: 86-472-4361541
People responsible for the death of Mr. Tao Hongsheng:
Captain of the No. 2 Brigade Zhao Zhiqian, Deputy Captain Li Jinsheng; Political Commissar Shi Jianzhong; Yuan Shuqian and others to be investigated
The responsible units for the death of Mr. Tao Hongsheng:
No. 2 Brigade: Zhaolingpu Village North of Shijiazhuang City, post code 050051, switch board 86-311-7777689, 86-311-7776345
Captain of the brigade Zhao Zhiqian: 86-311-7777689 x 628/663

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/3/19/97639.html