(Minghui.org) Having survived ten years of incarceration and torture for not renouncing her faith in Falun Gong, a 57-year-old woman suffered a mental breakdown a few months following her latest arrest in October 2018.

Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Yang Wenjie, a Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province resident, was taken away from her home on October 18, 2018, by officers from Zhaoyuan Domestic Security Division. 

She was sent to Yantai Detention Center, where the guards kept her hands cuffed at all times, including when she was eating, sleeping, or using the restroom.

Ms. Yang suffered a mental breakdown a few months later and was taken back home by her sister.

Ten Years of Incarceration and Tortures

Ms. Yang was introduced to Falun Gong by her sister in May 1996. She had just gone through a divorce and was in a deep depression at that time. The spiritual teachings of Falun Gong and the five sets of gentle exercises helped her regain hope in life. Her stomach problem and frozen shoulder also disappeared. 

Because of holding firm to Falun Gong, she was repeatedly arrested and tortured while being held at labor camps, a brainwashing center, and prison.

Ms. Yang was arrested in March 2002 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong. She was given three years at Shandong Province No. 2 Women's Forced Labor Camp. 

The guards stuffed used sanitary napkin into her mouth and placed the photo of Falun Gong's founder into her underwear in order to humiliate her. After her term expired, the 610 Office sent her to a brainwashing center for further detention because she refused to renounce Falun Gong. 

At the brainwashing center, she was hung up by her wrists with her toes barely touching the ground several times, and she was once deprived of sleep for over 40 days. 

She was also hung up on a metal rod in a crawling position facing down. The guards then shocked her with electric batons for more than one hour. She collapsed as soon as she was let down.

Ms. Yang was arrested again on July 25, 2010, for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was force-fed for having a hunger strike to protest the arbitrary arrest and detention.

Zhaoyuan City Court sentenced her to four years four months later. She was sent to Shandong Women's Prison in Jinan City in April 2011. 

The prison guards often beat her, didn't allow her to sleep or wash, and also force-fed her urine. 

When she still didn't renounce her faith after rounds of torture, the guards held her in solitary confinement for the rest of her term for nearly four years. The confinement cell, only 60 square feet, didn't have a window and only had a bowl-sized hole on the door for her to receive food and water. Ms. Yang was subjected to extreme temperatures and forced to sleep on the floor.

Ms. Yang said Falun Gong's teachings gave her strength and hope to endure the unimaginable torture, and replaced the loneliness with peace in her heart.

Related reports:

Falun Dafa Practitioner Ms. Yang Wenjie Tortured and Kept in Solitary Confinement at Jinan Women's Prison

Crimes Committed by Police and 610 Office Staff in Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province

Witnessing Prison Guards Persecute Practitioners to Insanity

Seven Falun Gong Practitioners Illegally Sentenced

Seven Falun Gong Practitioners Brutally Tortured in Brainwashing Center at Zhaoyuan City, Shandong Province

Ms. Yang Wenjie Brutally Tortured in Wangcun Forced Labor Camp in Shandong Province

Police Arrest and Brutally Torture Ms. Yang Wenjie and Ransack Her Home

Ms. Yang Wenjie Tortured for Five Years In Custody of the 610 Office and Brainwashing Center in Zhaoyuan, Shandong Province

Related article in Chinese:

山东省招远市杨文杰自述遭迫害经历