(Minghui.org) A retired middle-school teacher in her 70s has been detained for nearly a month after she was targeted in a police sweep of local Falun Gong practitioners.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Jia Tianzhen of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, was arrested at home on September 22, 2020. Another 26 practitioners were arrested at around the same time. While some have been released, Ms. Jia has been held in custody by the Domestic Security Division ever since.
This is the second time in six months that Ms. Jia has been arrested for her faith. She was arrested once before, on March 2, 2020. Although she was soon released due to the coronavirus pandemic, the police returned several times to harass her and attempted to force her to give up Falun Gong, which she has been practicing for 25 years and credits for improving both her health and character.
Ms. Jia used to work at the Tangyuan No.2 Middle School. Due to years of hard work and family misfortune, she developed tuberculosis and heart and stomach problems. Although her monthly salary was only a few hundred yuan, her medical expenses each month was in the thousands. Due to the financial burden of her healthcare, she often lost her temper and had conflicts with her family.
After Ms. Jia took up Falun Gong in 1995, she soon regained her health. The practice also broadened her mind and made her kind and considerate. In particular, her relationship with her mother-in-law improved significantly.
