Practitioner Blinded Due to a Beating; the Perpetrators Remain at Large

Ms. Zhai Shuzhen lives in Bisanjia Village, near Tieling City, Liaoning Province. Since the nationwide crackdown against Falun Gong began in 1999, she has been persecuted in all kinds of ways for practising Falun Gong. She was brutally beaten into unconsciousness and her ribs were broken. The authorities also extorted money from her. Now she has lost her eyesight and is unable to take care of herself.

Forty-six-year-old Ms. Zhai started practising Falun Dafa in 1999. Soon after, this illiterate lady was miraculously able to read the teachings of Falun Dafa. Her chronic back pain also disappeared.

When the persecution began, Ms. Zhai went to Beijing to appeal for Dafa. She was detained at the Changtu County Detention Centre and the authorities extorted a large amount of money from her.

On the night of February 3rd, 2002, an informant in Congsheng Village, Jinjia Town reported Ms. Zhai to the local police while she was distributing leaflets exposing the persecution there. Feng Bailin and Hou Wenige, the Jinjia Town assistant police chiefs, chased Ms. Zhai in a police car. When the pursuit came to the streets of Bisanjia Village, Ms. Zhai tripped and fell. The policemen beat her so severely and brutally that she immediately passed out. Assuming she was dead, they fled the scene to escape responsibility for her death and arrested another female Dafa practitioner.

Upon regaining consciousness, Ms. Zhai slowly and arduously crawled home. Her family rushed her to Changtu County First People's Hospital. X-rays revealed four fractured ribs on her left side that were causing severe bleeding into the pleural cavity and a collapsed lung. Ms Zhai underwent surgery to remove the fluid from her chest cavity. Her head was swollen due to the severe beating. She required hospitalization for eleven days, for which she was billed over 6,000 yuan¹ in medical expenses. She was forced to leave the hospital early because she could not afford to remain there. Three months later, the Jinjia Town Police Station attempted to send her to Masanjia Labour Camp. They planned to first send her to the Changtu County Detention Centre and then transfer her to Masanjia Labour Camp. But this plan did not succeed because Masanjia Labour Camp refused to accept her due to her severe physical condition.

Since policemen Feng Bailin and Hou Wedge from the Jinjia Town Police Station brutally beat Ms. Zhai, she has not been able to do any physical work and often has headaches. Once she fell to the ground causing severe bruises over her body.

This year, her health has further deteriorated. Local hospital treatment has not made any improvement. Ms. Zhai often has severe headaches. She can no longer see and is unable to take care of herself.

Over the years, Ms. Zhai family has spent about 20,000 yuan for her treatment and to pay the police money that they repeatedly extorted from the family. They are now deeply in debt. Her husband went to the Jinjia Town Police Station twice to seek justice, but each time he was severely beaten instead.

Note

1. "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://www.minghui.ca/mh/articles/2005/12/23/117120.html