Hunan Woman Dies After Enduring Decades of Arrests and Harassment for Her Faith

(Minghui.org)

Name: Kuang ChangyunChinese Name: 旷昌云Gender: FemaleAge: 68City: HengyangProvince: HunanOccupation: N/ADate of Death: March 6, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 21, 2015Most Recent Place of Detention: Nanyue District Domestic Security Office

A Hengyang City, Hunan Province resident passed away on March 6, 2022 as a result of the persecution of her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. She was 68.

After the persecution began, Ms. Kuang Changyun was arrested at least ten times and had her home ransacked seven times. She served a labor camp term and had her term extended for not renouncing Falun Gong. Her children were also implicated in the persecution.

Ms. Kuang was first arrested in February 2000 for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was taken back to Hengyang and held at the Nanyue District Detention Center for 55 days and extorted 200 yuan.

Ms. Kuang went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong again in late June 2000. After being arrested and taken to the Haidian Police Station, the police stripped off her clothes. Five officers took turns beating her and shocking her with electric batons. One of her teeth fell off. Her body was bruised all over. Her neck was covered with blisters. The officers didn’t stop until they were all exhausted.

The police took Ms. Kuang to an unknown place where many practitioners were detained, and handcuffed her to a chair overnight. An officer slapped her in the face twice. She was taken back to Hengyang on the next day. The authorities held her at the Nanyue Detention Center for three months and gave her a one-year term at the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp. Her detention left her three young children, with the youngest being 14 at the time, in a dire situation. One of her sons went into displacement as a result.

Because Ms. Kuang didn’t renounce Falun Gong, the authorities extended her term for a year. She was held in solitary confinement and forced to sit on a small stool. The guards also ordered the inmates to torture her.

When Ms. Kuang’s extended term expired in 2002, the authorities still refused to release her, but took her to the Nanyue Detention Center, where she was kept for another six months. After she was released, she went to Changsha to visit her uncle and stayed there for five days. When she returned home, she was shocked to see her residence turned upside down. Agents of the 610 Office then arrested her, with the excuse that she went out of town without getting their permission. She was held at the Nanyue Detention Center for nearly two weeks. She held a hunger strike for a week to protest the detention.

The authorities continued to monitor her daily life since, and they didn’t allow her to move out of town to look for a job. To better monitor her, Yue Donghua, the director of the 610 Office, arranged for her to work as a city janitor. She was ordered to work every day without any vacation and was only paid 250 yuan a month. If she had to take one day off, then her salary would be deducted.

When Jiang Zemin, the former head of the communist regime who ordered the persecution, came to visit Hengyang in August 2003, the local government officials stayed at Ms. Kuang’s home for three days and didn’t allow her to go out, even for grocery shopping.

Ms. Kuang was arrested for visiting a neighbor in July 2005. He Tierao, the head of the Domestic Security Office, took away all of her Falun Gong books, a VCD player and other personal items.

Her next arrest was in late 2006, after being reported for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong at a community fair. She was detained at the Nanyue Lockup for seven days and extorted 140 yuan.

Ms. Kuang was arrested again on June 4, 2008 after being reported for distributing Falun Gong materials on the street. After seven days at the Nanyue Lockup, she was given another term at the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp. Due to her physical condition, she was rejected admission by the labor camp and then released. The lockup charged her 300 yuan for food, but they often failed to provide the three meals on time.

Ms. Kuang was arrested yet another time on January 26, 2010 for distributing Falun Gong materials. This time, she was held at the Nanyue Lockup for five days and extorted 100 yuan.

Prior to a Daoist conference in Hengyang in 2012, the police harassed Ms. Kuang and threatened that she wasn’t allowed to go out during the time. When the police saw her on the street back from grocery shopping, a few days before the end of the conference, they stopped her and searched her bag. Several Falun Gong DVDs and 170 yuan in cash were taken away. She was also detained for 15 days and extorted 300 yuan.

Ms. Kuang filed a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin for ordering the persecution of Falun Gong on June 25, 2015. Because of that, nearly 20 officers broke into her home on November 21, 2015 and held her at the police station until noon. Her Falun Gong books, photo of Falun Gong’s founder, informational materials, computer, printer, copy paper and 100 yuan in cash were confiscated.

The persecution took a toll on Ms. Kuang’s health. She passed away on March 6, 2022. She was 68.