Hebei Province Falun Gong Practitioner Mr. Wang Houge Died after Long-term Persecution

Falun Gong practitioner Mr. Wang Houge was a villager from Xiabao Village, Luqiao Town, in Huanghua City, Hebei Province. Because of his steadfast belief in Dafa, Mr. Wang was sent to the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp where he suffered from all kinds of cruel tortures. Once, he was tortured with the method called "tying the ropes" three times in the same day. In May 2002, the police released Mr. Wang to his family. He was by this time extremely skinny and frail. Despite the huge pressure of the persecution and of caring for her husband, Mr. Wang's wife had to work extra hard to sustain a livelihood for her husband and family. The police did not stop their constant harassment and intimidation of Mr. Wang and his family. After long-term persecution, Wang Houge died in May 2005. He was 42 years old.

In 1998 Wang Houge began to practise Falun Gong. He experienced tremendous benefits to his physical and mental health, and his family life became harmonious and filled with happiness. After the persecution of Falun Gong began in 1999, Mr. Wang went to Beijing to explain to the government the truth about Falun Gong, but he was arrested by the Beijing police. The head of the 610 Office (1) from his hometown picked him up in Beijing and sent him back home for persecution.

In October 2000, along with several other practitioners, Wang Houge and his wife Yang Fangzhen, went to Beijing to tell people the truth about Falun Dafa and expose the persecution. Undercover police officers arrested them near Tiananmen Square and later sent them back to a local detention centre. During his detention, the police attempted to force Wang Houge to give up Falun Gong. The police also encouraged criminal inmates to beat him. Mr. Wang suffered tremendous torture and humiliation.

After more than 50 days of detention, Wang Houge was sentenced to three years of forced labour and sent to the Shijiazhuang Forced Labour Camp. In order to force Mr. Wang to give up Falun Gong, the police in the camp used many torture methods on him. For example, they used "tying the ropes," where multiple people are employed to tie up the victim, then they tighten the ropes by winding them around the body to increase the pain. The tightened ropes may even cut into the flesh, cause breathing difficulty, nausea, and/or vomiting. The pain is almost unbearable. After a long time under such agony, the arms become numb. Wang Houge was tied up three times in one day. He was also ordered to sit on a small ceramic tile patch without making any movement. If he moved, the police would kick and beat him. Mr. Wang also suffered from extended sleep deprivation for many days, making him feel faint and extremely drowsy.

The officials in the Shijiazhuang Labour Camp used many other torture methods. Once, a drunken police officer called Mr. Wang out of his cell at midnight. The officer started to beat him on the head with a leather shoe until Mr. Wang was cut and bleeding. He did not stop beating Mr. Wang even after he was injured and bleeding. This horrific brutality is just the tip of the iceberg of what Mr. Wang had to endure.

Also in 2000, Wang Houge's wife, Yang Fangzhen, and several other practitioners were detained for 15 days by police from Wang Houge's hometown. After being forced to pay 5,000 yuan (2) each, they were released, but after they returned home they were deceived and taken into custody again. The local 610 Office officials enticed them into a brainwashing class and detained them for over 40 days there. Each of the practitioners had to pay another 3,000-yuan fine before being released.

In March 2001, Tianjin City police followed Yang Fangzhen when she was telling the facts about Falun Gong to people. She escaped arrest but was forced to go into hiding. The family was thus broken apart by the persecution. Their school-aged child was left at home alone with only the grandpa.

In May 2002, after more than a year in a labour camp Wang Houge was secretly sent home. Long-term torture had reduced Mr. Wang to a very weak condition. Two weeks before, his health had suddenly declined and he lost his ability to perform normal functions. He needed help eating and going to the toilet. The abusive conditions brought on numerous health conditions. The labour camp doctor diagnosed Mr. Wang with hypertension and heart disease. They had to use oxygen to keep him breathing on his way home. Even at that, the police team chief who was escorting him was constantly calling his name to make sure he was still alive. Even the labour camp director was calling the police car frequently to check, fearing that they might be held responsible and have their crimes exposed if Mr. Wang died on the way home. After they returned Wang Houge to his family, the police quickly left.

His family members immediately sent Wang Houge to the hospital. He was diagnosed with tuberculosis. He had lost three quarters of his lungs and also had other diseases. The doctors said that he only had a few months to live.

Hearing that her husband was home, Yang Fangzhen went home, risking arrest again.

With both of them home, the 610 Office from Huanghua City and Luqiao Town never stopped their harassment and intimidation of the family. They sent spies to monitor them. Dealing with this ongoing terror, Wang Houge was not able to have an environment for recovery. After the illegal fines and extortion by the police, the family was deeply in debt. Yang Fangzhen had to find work to support the whole family.

In September 2003, Yang Fangzhen was again abducted by the town 610 Office and taken to a brainwashing class in Cangzhou City. This was a heavy blow to her husband. Wang Houge's health and mental condition continued to decline.

Under the violent mistreatment and the constant harassment, Mr. Wang's health deteriorated, until he finally died in despair, in May 2005. He was 42 years old.

Note:

(1) "The 610 office" is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.

(2) "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/6/21/104500.html