A Village Woman's Suffering

Zhang Jimei, 32, lives in Changming Village, Mengyin County, Shandong Province. After July 20th, 1999, as Jiang Zemin's regime started persecuting Falun Gong, the lawless people from Duozhuang Town Police Station kept breaking into Zhang's home and harassing her, to the point that Zhang Jimei was forced to leave her home.

When the police couldn't find Zhang Jimei, more than ten people, led by the town head Zhang Dawei, went to search her home. Zhang's husband Liu Changhong (who did not practise Falun Gong) stood on the roof of the one-floor house and tried to stop those people from breaking into the room. Zhang Shimin and other police forcibly broke through the door. He went to the roof with a gun in his hand and threatened to shoot Liu Changhong. Liu's mother climbed to the roof and tried to stop them. Zhang Shimin beat her on her shoulder, which caused her to fall from the roof to the ground. The evil people did not care whether the old woman lived or died. They confiscated all the grains and the furniture and took away Liu Changhong from his house. They met the head of the police station, Du Zhongmu, outside who was coming to meet them. Du Zhongmu beat and kicked Liu Changhong. They then put him in the police car and took him to the courtyard of Duozhuang Town. Liu Changhong was handcuffed to a pine tree in the yard. Later a big storm came and he was exposed to the pouring rain for four to five hours. At night, they cuffed him to a heating radiator. Several people, including the town head, Zhang Dawei, took turns beating him. On the following day they sent him to Mengyin Detention Centre. He was detained for fifteen days.

On May 17th, 2001, the police in Duozhuang Police Station arrested Zhang Jimei. However, no one knew her. In order to know where she came from, police officer Zhang Shimin beat and whipped her with a bench and wire. He slapped her face with a book. At night, she was cuffed to a window frame. Four to five people took turns depriving her of sleep by flashing light in her face whenever she closed her eyes. One week later, she was sent to Mengyin Detention Centre. A month later, she was sent to the Mengyin 610 Office¹.

About ten days later, the 610 Office, led by Li Zhiye, sentenced Zhang Jimei to three years of forced labour without going through any legal procedures. In August 2001, Zhang Jimei was sent to No. 1 Women's Forced Labour Camp in Jinan City.

Wang Shuzhen, head of No. 1 Division of No. 1 Women's Forced Labour Camp, often instigated prisoners to conduct inhuman torture, both physically and mentally, on the practitioners who persisted in their faith. In December 2001, Wang Shuzhen instigated the prisoners to tie Zhang Jimei to a chair with both hands and both feet tied behind. She was not allowed to use the toilet for a week. Seven days later, her hands and feet were so swollen that the skin became glossy, like a balloon. There were also many blisters on her feet. She was unable to stand up after she was released from the chair. She was carried onto a board by two people and spent a night in that state. Later she was tied to a bed with both hands and feet stretched out (death bed). For more than ten days her body was unable to move at all. She was not allowed to leave the bed or use the toilet. To eat, one of her hands was released. Her hand had swollen so much that she had difficulty in even holding a steamed bun. The room was damp and cold with a bad smell.

In summer 2002, a new wave of persecution started. Zhang Jimei was detained in a dark, damp room. For five days and five nights, she was forced to stand there with two arms stretched straight, attached to a metal pipe. She was then tied to the wooden board for more than ten days. She was not allowed to get up even when she had to use the toilet. She was detained in such a solitary confinement several times. Inside, one would not know whether it was daytime or nighttime. Sometimes she was not allowed to sleep or eat. One time another torture method was used. Zhang Jimei was forced to sit on the floor with her two legs stretched straight in front and tied to a metal pipe along the wall. If she moved a little bit, she was kicked and beaten with fists. This torture lasted seventeen days. She once refused to cooperate with the police's command to take a shower. The head of the division Shi XX told Lu Yingbe, "Drag her out!" Four to five scoundrels forcibly pulled her to the shower room and threw her to the ground. A basin of hot water was dumped on her body. Her arm was broken and burned, and bleeding.

In spring 2003, Zhang Jimei was transferred to another place. To protest the persecution, she started a hunger strike. She was tied on the "death bed²" and force-fed. Some held her arms and some held her legs. A plastic pipe was inserted through her nose. She was unable to breath and experienced extreme pain. Once, she refused to cooperate with the force-feeding and pulled the tube out. Zhang Xixiang viciously cursed her and twisted her ears forcefully, which made her ears swell. Zhang Jimei was tied on the bed for two months. Her bottom was covered with scabies, which brought her unimaginable pain.

The guards in the labour camp were most afraid of their crimes spreading to the outside and always tried to block any news. When Zhang Jimei's family visited her she said, "Falun Dafa is good," which was heard by the guards. When she returned, team head Sun Yuhua pushed her against a wall, and her head hit the wall so hard that she couldn't hear anything. They then brought tape and sealed her mouth with several layers to prevent her from talking.

Since Zhang Jimei was sent to forced labour, her family has suffered much pressure. Her husband, Liu Changhong, her five or six year old child, her mother-in-law and disabled father-in-law lived a very hard life. Lei Yancheng from the Mengyin 610 Office led several scoundrels to harass her family. Her father-in-law was unable to handle the pressure and passed away in July 2003.

For almost eighteen months of the three years in the forced labour camp, Zhang Jimei was detained in solitary confinement. She was tied and made to continuously stand during the daytime, and tied to the "death bed" at night. The longest time was for more than four months. The shortest was two weeks.

Zhang Jimei suffered brutal persecution day and night for more than 1000 days. Even when she was extremely weak and suffering mental trauma, she still kept her righteous belief in Dafa and never said a word against her conscience. Zhang Jimei was released in April 2004. The persecution affected her mental state and at that time she refused to talk at all.

However, after persisting in reading the book and practising the exercises, several months later her health improved. Her mental state became normal. The miracle and wonder of Falun Dafa manifested in her.

On December 10th, 2004, when Zhang Jimei distributed leaflets exposing the persecution in Huangyia Village she was reported to the police. The head of the village, Bo Jilin, and several other s detained her in the village office. When the police arrived, they tried to make her tell them her name and address. She firmly refused. The two police officers took turns beating her, holding her hair and the corner of her trousers, and then throwing her to the ground from one metre high. Later several police came and kicked, slapped and beat her with their fists. Her mouth and nose kept bleeding, and her clothes were covered with blood. Much of her hair was pulled out. Police held her neck, which made her unable to breath.

Later she was sent to the Jiepai Police Station. They continued to interrogate her. She was handcuffed to a desk leg and sat on the concrete ground. Two police officers cursed her and started shocking her specifically on her mouth with a high voltage electric baton until her lips turned black. By the next morning, her mouth had been shocked so badly that she was unable to open it. They tied her to a tree in the yard. In the afternoon, she was sent to the Mengyin 610 Office. To cover up their crime, they forced her to wash the blood off her face and take off her blood-stained clothes.

When the police found out her identification, they went to her home immediately that night and searched through her house, however they didn't find anything. At that time, only her 60-year-old mother-in-law and her seven/eight-year-old son were at home.

Zhang Jimei was detained in the Mengyin 610 Office for thirty days. She didn't tell anything to those people. Duozhuang Police Station forced her husband to pay 500 yuan³ and finally released her. When she was released, her face was swollen and bruised so much that her eyes were almost invisible. It took a month for her face to look normal.

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. "Death Bed" torture: A practitioner is tied to a bed with his hands handcuffed above his head to the bed rails, and his legs tied with thin nylon ropes. The rope is then tightly wrapped around the practitioner's body and the bed, from his legs to his chest. The rope is wrapped so tightly that the practitioner has difficulty breathing and eventually loses consciousness.

3. "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/2006/2/16/120888.html