Horticulturist Meng Lingchuan from Shandong Province Tortured to Insanity; Suspected Killed

Mr. Meng Lingchuan from Qijiazhaizi Village, Zhangqiu City, Shandong Province was born in 1958. He worked as a horticulturist at the Guanzhuang Township Seed Station. He began practising Falun Dafa in 1996. Since then, he always looked for the most difficult work to do and left the easy work for others.

Because Meng was a warm person and always put others first, he became the volunteer in charge of the local practice site. During his spare time, he taught others the exercises, and volunteered to work on a street construction project with fellow practitioners. The villagers saw Falun Dafa practitioners' selflessness and were all impressed by them, saying, "Falun Gong practitioners are indeed different from others. Falun Gong is truly great!"

Appeal in Beijing and Arrest

The Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999. In November 1999, Mr. Meng went to Beijing to appeal to the central government to end the persecution. The weather was already getting cold then. After he was captured by police, he was detained at a hostel in Fengtai District in Beijing. He was handcuffed and detained in the toilet for an entire night. He suffered from hunger and cold.

After Meng Lingchuan and other Falun Gong practitioners who went to Beijing to appeal were sent back to Zhangqiu, they were attacked at meetings held specifically to criticise them, and were forced to walk around with a sign around their necks with words that humiliated them. They went through Guanzhuang, Mingshui, and Puji townships. Police and military vehicles led the way. The practitioners were flanked by fully armed paramilitary police and soldiers.

Stripped Naked and Forced to Lie on Snow

Later, Meng Lingchuan was moved to Mingshui Detention Centre to be tortured. Because he continued to do the exercises in the detention centre, a guard hung him up for over 10 hours, and only released him after the guard finished work that day. Another time, guards stripped Meng Lingchuang and three other people naked, and pushed them on the snow to suffer from the cold for nearly four hours.

On a cold, snowy morning, a female Falun Gong practitioner who was also detained at the Mingshui Detention Centre saw through the window that several people were talking outside while standing roughly in a circle. After about three or four hours, she saw Meng Lingchuan walking past the window, slouching and shaking, with a layered jacket hung over his shoulders. The female practitioner asked Meng what happened. It took a while before Meng raised his head and talked through the window, "They stripped us naked and forced us to lie on the snowy ground to freeze." Their conversation was cut short by guards. A guard threatened the female practitioner, "Next time it will be your turn [to lie in the snow]."

Meng Lingchuan was tortured both mentally and physically during his nine-month detention. He was not released until autumn of 2000. By then, Guanzhuang Township Seed Station had already stopped paying him and fired him. Meng has a son and a daughter. During his detention, his daughter was able to go to college thanks to help from his friends, family, and other Falun Gong practitioners. His son was still in junior high. His wife worked at a pancake booth to make a living. Despite Meng's weak body due to the torture, he had to work in a coal mine.

Driven to Insanity

Peace did not last long for Meng before he was arrested and sent to Liuchangshan Brainwashing Centre in Jinan. He refused to cooperate or be brainwashed, and was sent to a labour camp for three years.

During his time at the labour camp, at first, he was "transformed¹" after being deceived by the propaganda. After he studied the Falun Dafa teachings, he realised his mistakes and wrote a statement stating his firm faith in Falun Dafa. The labour camp authorities escalated their torture of Meng, put him in solitary confinement, and humiliated and tortured him brutally. As a result, Meng became mentally ill.

After he was released, he basically stopped talking to people, which was quite a contrast from his warm personality before. Even when he talked, his mind was not clear. At his wife's pancake booth, he ground sweet potato vines into small pieces and mixed them in the corn powder used in pancakes. He threw away flowers in flower pots and planted weeds instead. When he was slicing beef to make dumplings, he threw away the beef, which was fresh and clean, and said, "This one is dirty. We can't use it."

In 2006, twice Meng left home for long periods of time. The first time, he returned after a long absence. The second time was in summer of 2006. He left home, and still has not returned as of now.

Recently a body was found on Jiwang Highway near Guanzhuang Township. It had been hit by cars so many times that it was only a mixture of flesh and blood. Only a trainer and a foot inside the trainer were intact. All the other bones were crushed. Meng's wife thought that he was wearing a pair of cloth shoes when he left. To make herself feel better, she prayed that the body was not Meng's. A few days later, when she was cleaning, she found the cloth shoes at her home and a pair of yellow trainers missing. However, it was too late to find the yellow trainer and the broken foot on the highway for evidence.

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")

Chinese version available at http://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2007/6/14/156883.html