(Minghui.org) Ms. Xia Jiping has been brutally tortured as the persecution of Falun Gong continued.
Ms. Xia Jiping before the persecution.
Falun Gong Gave Ms. Xia a New Life
Ms. Xia, from Fuzhou in Jiangxi Province, had a strange throat disease before she began practicing Falun Gong. She had problems speaking and swallowing. She coughed all year round, and no medication seemed to have any effect.
She was doing some work around her home in Hainan in late 1999, when her landlord recommended Falun Gong to her. She took the landlord’s advice, began reading Falun Gong books, and learned the exercises. The persecution of Falun Gong practitioners had just begun at that point.
Her persistent throat ailment soon improved. She could now swallow food easily. She also felt more energetic.
Falun Gong’s principles of “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance” also helped her understand how to be a good person. She changed her bad temper and became a gentle, kindhearted person. Ms. Xia felt blessed.
First Illegal Arrest in 2004
Ms. Xia was illegally arrested on September 26, 2004, for practicing Falun Gong.
The police searched and ransacked her rented house without a warrant, and confiscated three printers, a computer, her Falun Gong books, and other personal belongings.
They stole more than 20,000 yuan that Ms. Xia had planned to invest in an office supply store. She was detained in Fuzhou Detention Center.
Suffering at Detention Center
Ms. Xia refused to recite the prison rules and went on a hunger strike to protest the unlawful detention.
She was force-fed while being held down by eight guards. They pulled her down by her hair, held her hands and feet down, pried her mouth open, and poured highly concentrated salt water and other unknown substances down her throat.
She choked and could hardly breathe. She also suffered sharp chest pains when they finished.
Despite the ordeal, Ms. Xia was forced to perform ten hours of manual labor every day.
Torture at Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison
Ms. Xia was sentenced to prison for three years and two months on April 25, 2005, and was transferred from detention to Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison.
She was deprived of sleep for long periods. Every night, from June to August, she was forced to watch programs slandering Falun Gong until 2:00 a.m.
When she dozed off, the inmates assigned to watch her pulled her eyelids open and force her to continue watching the defamatory programs.
During the day, she was cuffed to a window or the metal frame of her cell bed. Later she was cuffed to a high window by her hands cuffed behind her back. She had to bend forward and her feet barely touched the floor. The pain was excruciating.
Towards the end of 2005, she was forced to work for ten hours a day and forced to study, copy, and recite prison rules as a part of her brainwashing.
Torture re-enactment: Hanging in the air.
Second Illegal Arrest in 2012
Ms. Xia was illegally arrested again on August 9, 2012, for handing out truth-clarifying flyers about Falun Gong.
Once again, the police ransacked her rented house without a warrant. They searched her son’s house and confiscated a computer, a printer, Falun Gong books, and some printing supplies.
Put in Heavy Shackles for Doing Falun Gong Exercises
Ms. Xia was unlawfully detained for eight months. She was placed in heavy shackles four times for practicing Falun Gong exercises, each time for ten to 14 days.
Torture re-enactment: Put in heavy shackles.
The shackles sometimes weighed more than 40 pounds, and caused her ankles to swell. The shackles were not removed even when she used the toilet.
Continuous Sleep Deprivation at Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison
Ms. Xia was unlawfully sentenced to four years at Jiangxi Province Women’s Prison.
For five months, from April to August 2013, she was continuously deprived of sleep, being forced to stand still in the prison workshop all day and then tied to a windowsill after 2:00 a.m.
When she could no longer stand due to exhaustion, her body involuntarily bent over and her head dropped down between her legs. She developed severe headaches and became disoriented. She fell to the ground many times and her face was badly battered.
Not Allowed Personal Hygiene for Three Months in Summer
Starting in early July 2014, Ms. Xia was deprived of all rights to personal hygiene. Guards confiscated her toiletries and change of clothes so that she could not brush her teeth or wash herself. She had no toilet paper or even a drinking cup.
Nanchang, known as one of the “four furnaces” of China, was unbearably hot. With no way to wash herself or change clothes, Ms. Xia smelled terrible. She was also not allowed to use the prison store for 19 months.
“Tackling Team”
As Ms. Xia refused to give up her belief in Falun Gong, the prison established a group specifically focused on her called the “team to tackle Xia Jiping” in November 2015, to try to “transform” her.
She was deprived of sleep for two weeks, and given only a small amount of food and water. The persecutors tried to force her to swear at Falun Gong and its founder.
When Ms. Xia refused, and shouted “Falun Dafa is good,” inmates assigned to monitor her took off her socks, soiled them with thick phlegm, and stuffed them into her mouth. They also tied her to a chair for nearly 30 hours.
For two weeks she was forced to march constantly, and then tied to an iron chair for lengthy periods of time. The guards instigated inmates to hang her from the window frame, with her toes barely touching the floor.
Torture re-enactment: Tied to an iron chair.
From January to August 2016, Ms. Xia was forced to do manual, unpaid labor every day, making umbrella decorations.
Still No Freedom after Release
Ms. Xia was released on August 9, 2016, after four years of cruel persecution. Yet she was still not free.
She was taken to an office by police for a “chat” on August 23 which lasted almost two hours. The police demanded that she not mention Falun Gong to anyone, including her mother and son. If she did, she would be accused of “spreading” Falun Gong.
Ms. Xia is just an ordinary woman who regained good health from practicing Falun Gong, yet she suffered seven years of incarceration and torture for her belief in “Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”
