He Xianggu, female, 39, worked as a nurse at the Health Center for Women and Children in Hunan Province. Xianggu started to practice Falun Gong in November 1997. On December 12, 1999, she was detained for 15 days after she went to Beijing to appeal. On January 1, 2000, Xianggu was forced to go to Hunan Mental Hospital for the first time by her work unit.

On August 18, 2000, her work unit arbitrarily opened her locker and found some Dafa (Great Law) books. On the next day, she was bound and sent to the mental hospital for the second time. Until now she has not been released and no visitors are allowed. The following was an eyewitness account after visiting Xianggu in November:

Blessed by the Teacher, I finally saw her. My eyes were brimming with tears. Xianggu didn't look like a human any more, but a serious mentally retarded figure. She stood there with a dull look in her eyes, with no expression on her face. Her back was hunched with her hands placed in front of her abdomen. She did not respond when being spoken to, and she could hardly utter a sentence even after being questioned for a long time. I asked her: "Did your husband come visit you?" She shook her head and finally told me: "Some officials from the Health Center for Women and Children had been here and brought some newspapers. They said I would be treated as a "counterrevolutionary" if I continued to practice. I was just given a shot a moment ago. Nowadays, I am given this kind of shot twice a month. Even for a [real] mental patient, injection of this drug normally would be once a month."

The environment at the hospital:

The environment at Hunan Mental Hospital was very bad. In addition to the double iron gates, the hospital is surrounded by high walls. It was dark and gloomy in the room, often with a lot of water on the ground. There was some urine and stools from patients on the floor. There was loud crying, yelling, singing and screaming all day and night. The patients often fought with each other until each was badly hurt and bleeding. It was hard to find a quiet moment.

If something were brought in, no matter whether it was food or articles for everyday use, they would all be snatched away by other patients. Personal belongings including clothes were often missing, either worn by other patients, or would end up in the trashcan or bathroom. Sometimes, you would find someone put some dirty trash under your quilt, or a very dirty person lying in your bed, and worse yet, he or she was defecating or urinating...

The drug used at the hospital:

The drug that Hunan Mental Hospital injected into Dafa practitioners was fluoro-hydroxypiperidine, a long-term retardant to the nervous system. This is the most potent drug used against schizophrenia, and it is usually used to treat very severe cases of schizophrenia. While injecting the drug, the doctor lied by saying it was used to protect the brain.

The response after injection of this drug:

Within half an hour of the injection, one would feel the chest is very painful, like having a heart attack. Due to its long-term effect, as time went by, the whole body starts to tremble, and it becomes hard to stand, sit or lie down. Arm and leg movements are impaired. Every minute feels unbearable. If one tried to do something to divert the attention from this painful feeling, the limbs would be too weak to move. The eyesight becomes blurred and one would slobber unintentionally. One would rather not say anything because it would take a great deal of effort to open the mouth.

There was no motivation and often one would be emotionally aggravated. It was very painful in the brain as though a knife was scraping it. One would sometimes cry without any reason. Sometimes one would feel very cold, and the chilling seemed to come from the spine.

The intelligence level was even lower than a preschool child, needing assistance even for walking... It was difficult to raise the feet or move the hands. The face was distorted and dull...

Dafa Practitioner in Mainland China

November 25, 2000