(Minghui.org) For upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a Kunming City, Yunnan Province resident was repeatedly arrested and beaten by the police. Ms. Tang Yu was sentenced to four years in prison in 2015, and both of her parents died shortly afterward. Ms. Tang is still under police surveillance after she was released in 2019.

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. Tang started to practice Falun Gong in 1996 and she credits the practice for improving her health and turning her into a more considerate person. Since the persecution started, she has been arrested several times for talking to people about Falun Gong and was beaten by the officers.

Following an arrest on September 30, 2011, the officers severely beat her while her hands were cuffed behind her back. Her entire body turned black and blue, her knees were swollen, and she was unable to sit or stand.

Ms. Tang’s injuries after her arrest in 2011

She was beaten again following another arrest on September 1, 2013. She struggled so hard that it took nine officers an hour to push her into a police car. One of them pushed her head down and another stepped on her feet in the car.

Bruises on Ms. Tang’s arms after her arrest in 2013

Ms. Tang’s next arrest was on August 18, 2015, after she was reported for distributing Falun Gong informational materials. The police handcuffed her hands behind her back and severely beat her. She was released at 6 p.m. the same day.

Ms. Tang’s head, thighs, and arms were injured after her arrest in August 2015.

Ms. Tang was arrested again on October 27, 2015. One of her right ribs was broken as a result of the police beating. Many of her personal belongings were confiscated by the police. She was released on October 29.

Only a month later, on November 26, the police arrested her one more time and took her to the Yongchang Police Station. During the 12-hour detention there, the police beat her, taped her mouth to prevent her from shouting “Falun Dafa is good” and cuffed her hands to a chair. She wasn’t given any food and was not allowed to sleep.

On the same day of her arrest, the Kunming City Intermediate Court sentenced her to four years and ordered to send her to the Xishan District Detention Center.

Ms. Tang appealed the verdict but to no avail. A year later, she was transferred to the Yunnan Province No.2 Women’s Prison. The guards confiscated all the daily necessities she brought with her from the detention center. They attempted to force her to write statements to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused to write it, the guards ordered other inmates to write it for her and forced her to sign it. She was forced to do unpaid labor every day and if she couldn’t finish the required quota, she would be forced to stand for long hours.

Ms. Tang was the only child of her parents. After witnessing the numerous home ransacking of her and also grieved by her imprisonment, her father passed away in the winter of 2015. The police continued to harass her mother and forced her to write a letter for Ms. Tang to resign from her work. The elderly woman’s health was also consumed by the terror and pressure and she also passed away not long after.

Before Ms. Tang was forced to resign from her job, she had worked for a total of 32 years and paid into her social security for 27 of those years. She would be entitled to a 900 yuan pension each month if she retired at 50. But with her forced resignation, she had to pay for additional social security insurance for five more years in order to receive her pension.

After she was released on May 26, 2019, the police continued to monitor her life. They didn’t only order her to frequently report to the police station, but also came to her home often to check her phone call records to see whether she still has contact with other Falun Gong practitioners.

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