(Minghui.org) A 77-year-old woman was savagely beaten by five police officers after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Ma Fengqiong of Mianyang City, Sichuan Province, went to a local market to distribute informational materials about Falun Gong on September 1, 2021. A man reported her and five Songya Town Police Station officers showed up to arrest her.

The five officers included Liu Fei (or Liu Hui), Zhao, Chen, and Kang. A fifth one refused to reveal his name.

When Ms. Ma refused to go with them, one officer went behind her and pushed her face down on the ground. Then he handcuffed her, knelt on her back, put her in a choke hold, and tried to open her mouth with a finger.

She still refused to cooperate, so another officer used a metal bar to pry open her mouth, loosening her front teeth and injuring her tongue. Other officers then pulled her up, pushed her into the police car, and took her to the Songya Town Police Station.

She refused to tell them her name and tried to explain the facts about Falun Gong. The officers verbally abused her in return.

Seeing that Ms. Ma had been severely injured, they took her to the hospital. She was given an injection, but the doctor refused to say with what.

Ms. Ma was later forced to reveal her name. Due to her age, the police gave her one month of criminal detention and fined her 1,000 yuan on the grounds that two Falun Gong flyers were found in her purse. The police didn’t detain her right away, deciding to let her go home to recover.

Before she left, she asked the police to return her house key, but they said they’d lost it.

At home, she found four inch-long cuts on either side of her neck. Her lower front teeth were slanted and bleeding, and her tongue was black and blue. Her lips and face were swollen. A large area under her knee was scratched, and her hands, arms, instep, and toes were swollen and bruised.

For the next seven days, Ms. Ma was unable to eat due to the pain in her mouth and tongue. The pain later extended to her ears. She could only drink water and liquids.

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution