Ms. Lei Guiling Arrested Again Years of Severe Physical Abuse and Torture

Name: Lei Guiling
Gender: Female
Age: 42
Address: Mengyin County, Linyi City, Shandong Province
Occupation: Farmer
Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 3rd, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Linyi City Detention Centre
City: Linyi
Province: Shandong
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, torture, extortion, home ransacked, interrogation, detention

Ms. Lei Guiling from Mengyin County, Shandong Province was arrested around 3:00 p.m. on August 3rd, 2012 as she distributed Falun Gong DVDs. Officers from the Mengshan Police Station made the arrest and took her to the station. Ms. Lei was then transferred to the Taoxu Town Police Station around 5:00 p.m.. Officers from the Taoxu Town Police Station ransacked Ms. Lei's home. She was eventually sent to Linyi City Detention Centre on the afternoon of August 4th.

Ms. Lei Guiling used to have a bad temper. After she started practising Falun Gong, she tried to be a good person according to the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance. She became kindhearted and tolerant and enjoyed perfect health. Because she remained steadfast in her belief, she has been persecuted numerous times by the regime thugs.

Subjected to Torture at Taoxu Police Station: Forced to Sit on the Floor with Straight Legs and Bent Toes, Slapped on the Face and Beaten with Wooden Sticks

Ms. Lei Guiling and her husband Mr. Zhang Jiashui signed a group petition in order to explain the facts of Falun Gong to the international community in 2000. On the night of February 21st, police officers Zhang Daoxin, Diao Chuanjun, and Li Changxiang arrested the couple, took their photos and extorted a total of 440 yuan¹ from them.

On February 25th, Lv Hu and others arrested the couple again. Zhang Zhaohui then took them to the town's judicial agency, where they were detained. They had to sleep on the cold cement floor at night. Zhang Chengwu forced the practitioners, including Ms. Lei, to remove their shoes and place one foot on the window sill for a long time in order to freeze their feet. He then forced her to sit on the floor and keep her legs straight and her toes bent. Zhang Chengwu and Mo Guangliang slapped her face viciously. Ms. Lei's head was buzzing and she saw stars in front of her eyes. She also could not hear anything for quite a while. One night, Liu Xingshi hit the couple so hard that they fell to the floor. Then nine thugs, including Zhang Hongmeng, beat them with wooden sticks for a long time. The couple's clothes were soaked in blood and they were in unbearable pain. After torturing the couple for over ten days, the police also extorted 8,000 yuan from them.

Subjected to Torture at Taoxu Town Government Building: Beaten with a Rubber Club and Kept in Strong Sunlight

On the night of April 28th, 2001, a gang led by Zhao Hongfeng raided Ms. Lei's home. When they found an empty cassette case they extorted 300 yuan from her. They arrested her and took her to the town government building. On the night of April 29th, a dozen thugs, including Bao Xitang, Lv Hu, Li Zhaofa and Zhang Jianjun, covered the heads of 14 to 15 practitioners and kicked them to the floor. Each thug used a rubber club and together they hit the practitioners. When Ms. Lei lost consciousness, they poured cold water over her to rouse her. They laughed loudly when they saw the practitioners in pain. Lv Hu dragged her into a small room. For six days, they denied her food, water and the freedom to move. Police officers also handcuffed her hands behind her back to a pole and kept her out in the strong sunlight. Only after they extorted 2,000 yuan from Ms. Lei, did they finally release her.

At the end of January 2004, Ms. Lei was taking care of her sister who was in the hospital giving birth. The town authorities arrested her there, shoved her into a vehicle full of people and took her to her home. They forced the door open by prying the lock and turned the house upside down. Not finding anything, they confined her to a vacant shed owned by the town government. They beat her to the floor and pressed her down while holding her head and neck. Li Zhaofa viciously kicked her around the waist. The pain was beyond words. Li Zhenguo and Qiu Yanguang forced her to sit on the cold cement floor, threatened and swore at her every day and forced her to pay 500 yuan.

Altogether, agents from the 610 Office (an organisation of special agents just for persecuting Falun Gong) extorted over 13,000 yuan from Ms. Lei Guiling. During the past years, agents from the 610 Office frequently came to her home to threaten and harass her. She has been living in an atmosphere of fear, which has greatly harmed her both physically and mentally. Now she has been arrested again and is being held in the Linyi City Detention Centre.

Note

1. "Yuan" is the Chinese currency; 500 yuan is equal to the average monthly income of an urban worker in China.