(Clearwisdom.net) Ms. Feng Shumei's mother-in-law passed away peacefully on January 18, 2009. When her relatives came to help at the funeral, they praised Ms. Feng for all that she had done for their mother. Her husband tearfully said: "Thank you so much for all you have done over these years. You did for my mother things that we, as her own children, could not even do." One of her neighbors even commented that she is a model citizen in the community.
Yet, Ms. Feng, who became recognized as a kind person through practicing Falun Gong, was persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party shortly after her mother-in-law passed away.
Letting go of 19 years of grievances
Ms. Feng, 53, from the Dongsheng Residential area, Linjiang City, Jilin Province, began practicing Falun Gong in the spring of 1999. She had many health problems before she practiced and had already had a nervous breakdown, but when she started to practice, these problems soon disappeared. As a practitioner she managed to let go of a 19-year long grudge she held against her mother-in-law, and became a very caring daughter-in-law.
The feud started when Ms. Feng's first child was born. Her mother-in-law was unhappy because the child was not a boy. From then on her mother-in-law always picked on her and made things difficult for her. She even incited her son to beat Ms. Feng and divorce her. Ms. Feng never dared to argue with her mother-in-law and was terribly afraid of her. When her second child was born in 1986, and it was a boy, she started to defend herself, but when she answered back her mother-in-law would beat her. Ms. Feng's husband was the head of Naozhi Police Station in Linjiang City at the time, and even bought his mother a house in Diaoda Village so that the two of them did not have to live with each other.
When Ms. Feng started to cultivate, her attitude towards her mother-in-law changed, and she would often go to visit her. She even invited her mother-in-law to live with them again, reuniting the family. Their house was later demolished and they all had to temporarily live at Ms. Feng's daughter's house. When her mother-in-law was diagnosed with a genetic brain disease, Ms. Feng rented a room for her and her mother-in-law to live, as there was no heating where they were, and her mother-in-law was very ill and could not take care of herself.
A friend of Ms. Feng's husband came to visit them when he heard how she took great care of her mother-in-law. When he and his wife saw that their room was very clean and with a fresh fragrance about the place, they could not help but praise Ms. Feng: "You are admirable! We used your mother-in-law as an excuse. We really wanted to come and see how you were doing. Falun Gong is truly great!" Even when Ms. Feng's landlady saw how well she took care of her mother-in-law, the landlady realized how great Falun Gong is, and then told her own daughter-in-law to learn Falun Gong.
Ms. Feng moved to a new home the following year, but by then her mother-in-law's illnesses had deteriorated and she became constipated chronically. As no medicine would relieve her constipation, Ms. Feng had to use a small spoon to extract her excrement, and had to wash the sheets almost every day.
In the summer of 2008, Ms. Feng's sister-in-law, brother-in-law and other relatives came to celebrate her mother-in-law's birthday. Due to the previous conflicts with her mother-in-law, the relationship with these relatives had also turned sour, and her brother-in-law had not come to visit her for more than 20 years. However, he was very touched at how Ms. Feng had taken care of his mother. Before he left their home, he said to Ms. Feng, "You are great!" She smiled and replied, "Falun Gong is great. It has changed me."
Repeatedly persecuted and forced to leave home
Ms. Feng was clarifying the truth to people when she was arrested by officers from the Sangongli Forestry Police Station. She was handcuffed, forcefully pulled up by the handcuffs, and then pushed back onto a chair. After the police did this several times, the handcuffs cut into her flesh and blood dripped down her arms. Police officer Wang Hui stood by and watched while this was happening.
She was held at a detention center for over 40 days, and was then sentenced to two years in the Heizuizi Women's Forced Labor Camp in Changchun City. She was beaten, shocked with electric batons, deprived of sleep, forced to go through brainwashing sessions and had to do forced labor. Ms. Feng also had her sentence extended by 20 days.
When Ms. Feng was released from the labor camp in 2003, officers from Linjiang City Domestic Security Division, Jianguo Police Station and officials from the Residential Committee frequently harassed her. Whenever officials from the 610 Office in Baishan City organized brainwashing sessions, the police would harass Ms. Feng's daughter's mother-in-law and her father in Weishahe Town. Ms. Feng and another practitioner were once arrested by officer Geng Lidong and others, when they were reported to the authorities for clarifying the truth to people in Jiangxindao, Hangzhou Province. Her home was ransacked and she was forced to pay 200 yuan to them.
In May 2005, officials harassed Ms. Feng at home, forcing her to leave home to avoid further persecution. Shao Gang from the Jianguo Street Residential Committee, Liu Guangxiu and other officers from the Jianguo Police Station went to her parents' and daughter's homes many times to harass them and try to find her whereabouts.
Officers from Linjiang City Domestic Security Division and Baishan City Police Station harassed Ms. Feng's family on the evening of April 16, 2009. They tried to persuade her father, who is partially paralyzed, to let them in, but he was too frightened to open the door. They then broke in and ransacked the home, confiscating a computer, telephone, DVD writer and other personal belongings. They also took her father's bank card and her daughter's mobile phone. Ms Feng's father pleaded with them to return the bank card. They refused, and told him that it was his punishment for not opening the door. They did eventually return Ms. Feng's daughter's mobile phone and her father's bank card. Ms. Feng was forced to leave home once again to avoid further harassment.
On October 1, 2009, officers from Linjiang Domestic Security Division and Baishan Police Station harassed Ms. Feng's brother while he was at home, demanding to know where she was. Her elderly father was terrified and worries about his daughter every day.
A year later, Ms. Feng is still unable to return home.
