(Clearwisdom.net) I am 77 years old now. I was fortunate enough to begin practicing Falun Dafa in 1994. I had previously experienced so many tribulations in my life that I doubted that I would have been alive today had it not been for Falun Dafa. Shortly after I started to practice, my son was killed by a group of thugs. This sudden calamity almost broke me. I couldn't sleep for 7 days and nights. Later, I got over this by reminding myself that I was a practitioner. In the past I always thought that I was a very unfortunate person. My husband and three sons passed away one after another. I was getting old and had all kinds of diseases. After learning Falun Dafa, I became open-minded and healthy. Now I am living with my granddaughter. Our life is difficult but happy.
After July 20, 1999, Jiang's regime started to persecute Falun Gong. Millions of people who believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance" suffered brutal persecution. Even a 77-year-old senior like me was not spared. On June 7, 2000, a couple was released from the labor camp, and I went to visit them. Seven to eight policemen suddenly broke into their home and kidnapped the three of us, forcibly taking us to the police station. I was released at night but the couple was summarily sent to a labor camp for a one year sentence without any formal charge or trial.
At 4:00 a.m. on January 30, 2002, I went out to distribute truth-clarification materials and was kidnapped by three monitoring hoodlums, who took me to the police station. The director brutally kicked me seven times with his leather boots. My legs were heavily bruised with black and blue marks from being kicked. Moreover, he poured cold tea on me. The chief of the "610 office" also poured a whole jar of ice cold water on me. My face was covered with tea leaves and I was soaked. Because I didn't tell them my name, the policemen took me out to the street. It was very cold that day, and to humiliate me the authorities forced me to stand in the middle of the street. By my side was a big poster with the words "The person who posted Falun Gong Flyers." They wanted passers-by to recognize me. Then they asked a TV station crew to come and videotape me. The program was shown many times on the local TV station. The local newspapers also published news of my arrest. The police searched my home and confiscated my personal property. They took away lots of Dafa materials and some equipment that was worth twenty to thirty thousand Yuan [Chinese currency, the average urban worker earns about 500 Yuan per month].
In the evening, I was taken back to the city police department for further interrogation. The police asked me if I would continue to practice Falun Gong. I answered that I would never give it up and didn't say anything else. The police interrogated me for six successive days and nights and wouldn't allow me to sleep. They made me sit on a sofa and guarded me in turn, trying to find out where those materials and equipment came from. In the evening four people took turns guarding me, and as soon as I closed my eyes, they would wake me up. I had been on hunger strike all this time, refusing to eat or drink. They got nothing from me. In the end, I was sent to a detention center. In the afternoon of the eighth day, fearful of having to take responsibility for my death, they informed my family to take me back. When I went back home, I heard that on the day I was arrested, my daughter-in-law and granddaughter went to the police station to see me, and they were detained there for half a day and interrogated about the source of the materials. My daughter-in-law said she didn't know. The police banged on the table hard and turned to my 13-year-old granddaughter, who was so scared that she started to cry. She cried so much that her eyes became swollen. At 1:30 a.m. on the 3rd day after I went home, when I had still not fully recovered, four police officers came and pounded on the door. My neighbors were woken up by the loud noise. I was lying in bed, too weak to say a word. They broke in and searched the house thoroughly and didn't leave for a long time.
After the spring festival of 2002, there was a police car parked by the building where I was living. It was there everyday for two weeks. The police often came to my home to harass me, and every time they came they would confiscate some of my property. At that time, I felt that my head was heavy and could not get off the bed. Their harassment lasted for over a month.
At around 5:00 p.m. on July 17, 2002, four to five policemen drove to my home and kidnapped me to the police station. The chief interrogated me and suspected that I had a connection with a fellow practitioner who had been arrested. I didn't cooperate with them. Then I was taken to the city police department. The next morning I was forcibly taken to the detention center. Fifteen days later, the detention center released me after extorting 1500 Yuan from my daughter.
On November 6, 2002, the police came to my home again. Several of them dragged me out, put me in a police car and took me to the detention center. I refused to eat and drink to protest the persecution. I fell unconscious several times during that period. One time when I woke up, I heard a policeman saying that nobody would be released during the 16th Party Congress, even a dying person. On the 8th day of my hunger strike, I went into a semi-comatose state and was extremely weak. I had difficulty breathing. Fearful of having to take responsibility for my death, they informed my family to take me back home.
I'm very grateful for Master's protection, which enabled me to get out of the den of evil time and time again, so that I could fully devote myself to the mighty current of Fa-rectification.