Ms. Chen Guoxiang, a 70-year-old Practitioner, Died Due to the Persecution

Ms. Chen Guoxiang, a 70-year-old Falun Dafa practitioner, lived in Chengdu City. She began to practise Falun Gong in April of 1999. After only three months of practising Falun Gong, many of her illnesses were cured, without any medical treatment. The greatest miracle was that her feet, which had been paralysed for more than 50 years, became normal.

After the persecution of Falun Dafa started, although she was illiterate, could not speak clearly and had never gone far from home, Chen Guoxiang travelled to Tiananmen Square in Beijing by herself around December 8, 1999, to appeal for Dafa and tell people about the goodness of Falun Dafa. She was arrested on the outskirts of the city and detained in Beijing. She was beaten, made to suffer freezing cold weather and was forced to stand for extended periods of time. After Ms. Chen was taken to the Drug Rehabilitation Centre in Qingyang District, she was physically punished and forced to run. She suffered hunger and was also forced to stand for extended periods. Two days later, Chen Guoxiang was transferred to Jiuru Village Detention Centre in Chengdu City and held for 15 days. During that period, the police repeatedly asked her at any time during the day or night, "Are you still practising Falun Gong?" Every time, Ms. Chen firmly answered: "Yes!" Furthermore, she explained the truth to the police, by talking about her personal experience and physical benefits gained from the practice. In return, she received physical punishment from the cruel police, such as being forced to stand in the cold wind. Ms. Chen had to suffer in the freezing weather for a long time during the dark night.

After Ms. Chen served the unlawful detention, policeman Wei Daping from the Wannianchang Local Police Station took the elderly lady to the home of her son. Wei forbade her to stay with her daughter. The elderly woman said: "I have always lived at my daughter's home. I have to take care of my 8-year-old grandson." Wei Daping lied to her: "Your daughter has been sentenced to three years in prison for practicing Falun Gong. You can't live at her place now." Wei Daping drove Ms. Chen to her son's home. That day, police from the Gaodianzi Police Station, near her son's residence, took Ms. Chen to her hometown. In her hometown, the police from the Yunlong Town Police Station also harassed her many times.

During the more than five years of the persecution, Ms. Chen's daughter had been detained and forced to become homeless to avoid further persecution. Therefore, she could not look after her parents and go to work. Her elderly parents were unable to live normal lives. The three generations in this family lost their means of financial support due to the persecution. The 14-year-old grandson had to borrow money to pay his school fees. Despite this miserable situation, staff from the Chenghua District 610 Office (1) threatened and intimated the elderly people in the family. They also tried all methods to find out Ms. Chen's daughter's whereabouts. The police even drove to the vehicle repair shop where Ms. Chen's son worked, and threatened him in order to discover his sister's whereabouts.

Before her daughter was detained for 29 days, Ms. Chen witnessed her cruel and violent arrest by the police. Her daughter became paralyzed from the torture in detention and was critically ill twice. The ongoing persecution of her family hurt Ms. Chen mentally. She suffered terrible mental strain, the magnitude of which is hard to image.

In the early morning of May 21, 2005, the elderly Mrs. Chen fell over suddenly while on the toilet and slipped into a deep coma. A week later, she died.

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.

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/7/10/105825.html