(Clearwisdom.net) As shocking as it is that Ms. Liu Zhimei, a Falun Gong practitioner and a former Tsinghua University student, was driven to mental collapse at the hands of Communist Party regime prison guards, she is certainly not the only one. ("Former Tsinghua University Student Ms. Liu Zhimei Sustains Nervous Breakdown From Injections of Unnecessary and Harmful Drugs" http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2010/2/18/114775.html) Minghui reporter Hua Qing recently interviewed Ms. Zeng Zheng, a practitioner living in Sydney, Australia, who recounted a similar incident she witnessed while in detention.
Ms. Zeng Zheng holds a master's degree in geochemistry from Beijing University. She began her cultivation practice once she discovered answers to questions about life and the universe in Falun Gong's teaching. After the persecution started, she was once detained at Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp for one year and was brutally tortured.
While speaking with people in Sidney about Falun Dafa and the persecution, Ms. Zeng often brings up what she once saw with her own eyes: a practitioner was driven to mental collapse in the labor camp. She told the reporter, "Information about Tsinghua University student Liu Zhimei being driven to a mental breakdown reminded me of the true reason why some detained practitioners who suffered from ruthless torture had severe mental problems. I witnessed a practitioner's mental collapse."
Ms. Zeng continued, "With me in the labor camp was a young woman in her 20s from Gansu Province who had been arrested for appealing on behalf of Falun Gong. She was initially determined in her belief. After five days and nights of non-stop torture, however, her mind broke down. I was present the night she had a nervous breakdown. She was perfectly normal one minute, but the next minute I noticed a confused and blank look in her eyes. The look appeared sort of stupid. Then she burst into really loud and silly laughter. I knew right away she was no longer her true self. At that moment I felt a chill running down my spine and realized what I had seen was the most frightening thing in the world. Nothing compares to the fear that a bubbly person was deprived of her basic ability to think and suddenly became mentally abnormal. I had no idea what torture she was subjected to prior to that moment, or if she was given any kind of injection, but I will never forget that moment."
Ms. Zeng also recalled that she was once given an IV containing unknown substances. "That was during my hunger strike when the guards took me to the clinic for an IV on the fourth day. Somehow the doctors couldn't get the drug into me, so they ordered a criminal detainee to do it. As soon as the detainee began the IV process I became extremely uncomfortable and muddle-minded. I felt as if I was floating in air without any strength at all. I had to lean against a dresser in the clinic. I couldn't even hear what they were talking about. They sort of ' phased out' of my sight, just like in a movie."
Ms. Zeng mentioned a very vicious torture involving using electric needles at acupuncture points, which can cause excruciating pain or even lead to a mental breakdown. She said, "Between 2000 and 2001, another practitioner and I were sent to and taken out of two places almost at the same time: Beijing Forced Labor Dispatch Division and Beijing Women's Forced Labor Camp. She had just turned 20 and was a pretty young woman with big eyes.
"Prior to being sent to the dispatch division, she was held at the Dongcheng Detention Center, where the guards used every conceivable means to torture her. Despite their attempts to have her give up Falun Gong, she always held firm to her belief. Later on the guards resorted to the above-mentioned electrical torture, using an electric needle to apply high-voltage electricity at her acupuncture points. She lost consciousness immediately. She was mentally disoriented when she regained consciousness and had lost her memory. She couldn't take care of herself at all. The guards manipulated her any way they wanted. When told to do so, she simply transcribed all the slanderous materials they gave her without objection. When there was nothing to do she was just like a living dead person. Because her eyes were very big, her blank looks were even more prominent. She became thinner and thinner, and later on, she was extremely fragile.
"While at the dispatch division I saw how much effort it was for her to take even a small step. After she swayed for a long time she 'threw' her left foot forward, since that foot didn't seem to belong to her. She almost lost her balance and swayed precariously. She would find her balance after rocking back and forth for quite a while. Still shaking, she bent down with difficulty and pressed her hands on the ground. After panting for a while, she suddenly pushed up and threw her right foot forward. She often had to remain on all fours for quite a while before gathering sufficient strength to straighten her back and then to move on."