(Minghui.org) Seven elderly residents of Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province have been detained for four months for their faith in Falun Gong. One of them is experiencing medical problems. The practitioners' families are all worried about their health and safety.

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

A group of officers smashed the window and scaled the fence to break into the home of Mr. Liu Wenchang and his wife Ms. Wang Shuren at around 6 p.m. on November 27, 2020. Both of the couple and their five guests, Ms. Feng Xiumei, Ms. Meng Qiuyan, Ms. Bai Lixia, Ms. Liu Qiu and Ms. Liu Shuying, were arrested.

In the evening, all seven Falun Gong practitioners’ families went to the Xingfuxiang Police Station and demanded their release. Several of the practitioners’ children said their mothers’ health improved after taking up Falun Gong and they didn’t do anything wrong in upholding their faith.

The police refused to release the practitioners and ordered them to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. The village secretary, Liu Ming, also asked Ms. Wang's son to kneel in front of her and beg her to sign the statement. But Ms. Wang didn’t comply. Later in the evening, the six female practitioners were transferred to the Harbin City No. 2 Detention Center and Mr. Liu was taken to the Shuangcheng District Detention Center.

On the next day, the police asked the husbands of the five guests of Ms. Wang's, mostly in their 70s, to sign their arrest warrants, which were dated December 8, one day after the actual arrests.

The practitioners’ families found the village secretary, Liu Ming, and sought his help to rescue their loved ones. Liu instead asked each family to turn in 50,000 yuan for him to bribe the police officers in charge of the case.

It’s reported that Mr. Liu is having episodes of epilepsy, which was healed years ago after he took up Falun Gong but recurred due to the poor living environment in the detention center. Now his family is very worried about his situation.

Additionally, Mr. Liu’s son also suffered from a heart attack after being terrified by the police during the raid. As the younger Mr. Liu divorced many years ago, he now struggles to care for his mentally disabled teenage son.

Ms. Liu Shuying’s husband has been relying on her for care since he began to suffer from vertigo a few years ago. He is now under tremendous distress following her arrest and his condition has worsened in the past few months.

The practitioners’ families have returned to the police station several times to demand their release, but to no avail.