Belated News: Hunan Woman in Her 70s Partially Paralyzed after Two-Day Detention for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) A woman in Miluo City, Hunan Province, was forcibly taken to a brainwashing class in early November 2017 for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. After returning home from two days of detention, Ms. Fu Shumei had severe stomach pains and urinary incontinence. She has been partially paralyzed ever since.

Ms. Fu, 74, was recorded by surveillance cameras when she was distributing materials about Falun Gong in January 2017. Every day for the next ten months, officers from Miluo City 610 Office, Domestic Security Division and police stations, as well as residential committee staff members came in two cars to her home, which she shared with one of her daughters.

To avoid the harassment, her daughter suggested that she stay with another daughter for a week. However, when Ms. Fu returned to her own home, the officers still came to harass her every day until they took her to the local brainwashing class ten months later.

One evening in November 2017, Ms. Fu was collecting air-dried laundry on her balcony when she saw a white car pull up to her apartment building. Five men and one woman got out. One man pointed at her and said, “It’s her.” He then left with the woman. The four other men then walked into the storefront her daughter operates downstairs in the same building. They said to the younger woman that they wanted to take Ms. Fu to a class. Her daughter didn’t know that it was a brainwashing class meant to force Ms. Fu to renounce Falun Gong, so she led them upstairs into her home.

The officers said to Ms. Fu, “We are taking you to the class for two days. Please cooperate with us. We haven’t had dinner yet.”

Ms. Fu refused to go with them first but later relented, thinking it could be an opportunity for her to clarify the facts about Falun Gong to people involved in the persecution.

The police then took Ms. Fu to the Haolaiwu Hotel, where the brainwashing class was held. Upon her arrival, the staff members treated her to some fruit, snacks, and a cup of sesame bean tea.

About ten people surrounded her. Some took pictures, and some talked to her. When one of them asked her if she still read Falun Gong books, she firmly answered yes.

On the third day, the residential committee director claimed that Ms. Fu didn’t feel well and ordered a staff member to take her back home, even though Ms. Fu was fine at the time.

Soon after she returned home, however, she began to have a stomachache. After a meal, she had excruciating pain in her stomach and collapsed into her bed. Then she became incontinent, sweated profusely, and lost consciousness.

When she came to, she felt cold all over and half of her body was paralyzed. She didn’t eat or drink anything for the next five days and lost more than fifteen pounds. When her daughter took her to a hospital, the doctor said that she had pancreatitis. She wasn’t able to eat anything for the next two weeks. Since then, she has suffered from hemiplegia.

Her family has many unanswered questions about Ms. Fu’s condition that she suddenly developed after the brief detention, and they questioned whether she truly had pancreatitis: She was in good health before she was taken away; why did her body show such serious symptoms after two days of detention? Why did she receive such a warm reception with a sesame bean tea? Was anything added to the tea? Why did the head of residential committee say that Ms. Fu was not well and send her back even though she was still feeling fine at the time? And why did the stomach pain cause her incontinence?

Despite her condition, the officers still came to her home to harass her at least twice a year. Their last visit happened in early March 2021.

Four Other Practitioners Detained in the Brainwashing Class

Before Ms. Fu, four Falun Gong practitioners from Miluo City had been detained at the same brainwashing class.

Mr. Yang Jian, in his 50s, and Mr. Xiang Jinhua, in his 60s, were taken there before October 25, 2020.

Ms. Wu Xiaoming, in her 50s, was seized by seven police officers on the night of October 25, 2020, when she returned home. The officers pushed her into a police car and took her to the hotel. Officers of Luoyang City 610 Office, Domestic Security Divison, and Miluo City 610 Office and Domestic Security Division participated in her detention.

Ms. Peng Dongbin, 62, a retired doctor, was cooking at home on October 26, 2020, when the police from Miluo City 610 Office and Domestic Security Division broke in and seized her. They did not allow her to change her clothes and shoes. Her former workplace sent fifteen people to the brainwashing class to monitor her in several shifts.

The brainwashing center in Changsha Legal Education Center sent over four helpers to Miluo City to assist with the brainwashing. The four practitioners were forced to watch videos defaming Falun Gong around the clock and ordered to curse Falun Gong and write letters of repentance to renounce Falun Gong.

Regaining a Healthy Body 24 Years Ago

During her younger years, Ms. Fu worked painstakingly to make ends meet for her family. She did all kinds of jobs and did not take good care of her body, which began to fall apart in her 40s. With no money, she did not seek treatment and did not even know what diseases she had. She had severe headaches during her menstrual period every month, frequent stomachaches and back pain, long-term constipation, and sometimes pain while urinating.

Ms. Fu’s condition became worse by September 1997, with bad urination pain and constipation. An old friend introduced Falun Gong to her in October 1997. By the fourth day after she learned the exercises, all her ailments were gone.

From then on, Ms. Fu lives by Falun Gong’s principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and strives to be a better person. With a healthy body and high moral standard, she lived a happy life, only to see her life turned upside down after the persecution Falun Gong started in 1999.

Perpetrators’ contact information:Li Hongbo (李鸿波), Miluo City Political and Legal Affair Committee Secretary, Director of Miluo City Police Department: [phone], [phone]Fu Pinghua (伏萍华), Deputy Director of Miluo City 610 Office: [phone]He Jianqun (何建群), and Zhou Dan (周丹), Miluo City, Chengguan Town 610 OfficeYang Rong, from Miluo City, Chengguan Town Political and Legal Affair Committee

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)