Tianjin Police Torture Ms. Shao Kunhua to Mental Disorder, Then Extort Money from Her Family

Ms. Shao Kunhua, a Falun Gong practitioner from Faku County, Liaoning Province, was arrested in 2001 when she went to Beijing to appeal. She lost consciousness after the police from Tianjin force-fed her with unknown drugs. She woke up experiencing a mental disorder, and her family members were extorted out of more than 10,000 yuan¹.

Ms. Shao Kunhua was from Dagujiazi Town of Faku County, Liaoning Province. She started the the practice in December 1997. Before she started the practice, she had health problems, including ischemic heart disease and menstrual pain. She recovered from these ailments after she started the practice. Afterward, Shao Kunhua often shared with her neighbours the goodness of Falun Gong and the benefits she experienced.

In July 1999, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) started the persecution of Falun Gong. Facing the persecution, Shao Kunhua and another practitioner, Zhang Xinyun, left for Beijing to appeal on January 15th, 2001. On January 17th, they arrived at Tianjin. The local police arrested them and sent them to Tianjin Beichen Police Department, and afterwards transferred them to the Tianjin Detention Centre.

In the detention centre, a policewoman, Ma, ordered others to strip naked Shao Kunhua and Zhang Xinyun, to conduct a body search. The police confiscated 3,300 yuan in cash. After the search, seven people came and dragged Shao Kunhua into the hallway and started beating and kicking her.

Very soon, blood gushed out from Shao Kunhua's cornea and her face was covered with bruises. Vicious policemen pushed her on the ground, handcuffed her hands behind her back, tied her legs together with a belt, pried her teeth open with a hard object and started force-feeding her with unknown drugs. Shao Kunhua soon lost conscious. Five officers dragged Shao Kunhua to a prison cell containing all male inmates and tied her to a chair with her arms and legs stretched out. Shao Kunhua woke up with a mental disorder.

After a few days, Zhou Haicheng, a legal assistant from Dagujiazi Town, and Peng Ye, the head of the township police station, came to Tianjin Detention Centre to pick up Shao Kunhua and Zhang Xinyun. In the process of checking out, the detention centre returned 3,300 yuan to Shao Kunhua, but Zhou Haicheng grabbed the money and said he would take care of it for Shao, but he never returned it. At around 10:00 p.m., they were brought back to Dagujiazi Town Police Station. Shao and Zhang were bound to a bed for the night.

On the following day, Shao Kunhua was taken to Faku County Detention Centre. After a couple of days, the centre found her mentally ill, and refused to keep her. She was brought back to Dagujiazi Town. On their way back to town, they stopped at Shao Kunhua's sister's place and asked for 5,000 yuan as a bail deposit for releasing Shao Kunhua. They received a 5,000 yuan savings certificate from Shao Kunhua's sister, and turned it in to Tao Jinglin, the secretary of Xiaoerfang village. They said the money would be returned if Shao Kunhua didn't appeal again.

After a few days, Tao Jinglin came to Shao Kunhua's place and promised to return the money when the farming season came. However, Zhou Haicheng and Di Peng brought several people to Shao's place one day and extorted 3,000 yuan. They threatened to take Shao Kunhua and their crops away if didn't hand over the money. Family members were scared and borrowed the money from various sources. After they got the money, Zhou Haicheng said the 5,000 yuan paid as the bail-out deposit became the fine, and would not be returned.

A few days later, Zhou's gang came to Shao Kunhua's place again and extorted another 2,000 yuan. They threatened to take Shao Kunhua away if they were not given the money. Shao Kunhua was not home at the time, and when she returned, the money was gone. In this case, not only was Shao Kunhua tortured to the point of becoming mentally traumatized, she was also extorted out of more than 10,000 yuan. A year later, Shao Kunhua slowly recovered from the torture and regained her health by reading Falun Gong books and doing the exercises.

Responsible persons:
Zhou Haicheng, legal assistant of Dagujiazi Town: work phone 86-24-62715599, mobile phone 86-13840281134
Peng Ye, ex-head of Dagujiazi Town Police Station, head of Faku Detention Centre: operator line at the detention centre 86-24-87122039, cell 86-13840300134

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://minghui.ca/mh/articles/2009/1/5/193003.html