(Minghui.org) A Hegang City resident was body searched while taking a train in May 2016 and had her copy of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong, confiscated.

The encounter evoked horrifying memories of a lengthy imprisonment that Ms. Qi Xinping experienced from 2008 to 2015. She was arrested in 2008 for trying to find shelter for a Falun Gong practitioner who was forced to live away from home to avoid arrest for refusing to give up his faith.

Ms. Qi also practices Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. She credits Falun Gong for saving her marriage and returning her to health. As such, she never wavered in raising awareness of the persecution or assisting fellow practitioners in any way she could to ensure their right to freedom of belief.

Ms. Qi recounts her ordeal in the hopes that the public see how innocent people in China are being forced to pay a dear price for practicing their faith.

Below is her personal account.

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I was arrested in 2008 for trying to help a fellow practitioner find a rental place. The local police ransacked my home and confiscated my computer, printer, Falun Gong books and other personal valuables. They next interrogated me with torture at the police station.

I was punched, shocked with electric batons, hit with PVC tubes, tied up, and forced to stand for long periods of time. There were two days when I was restrained to a chair without being given any food or drink. I was not allowed to doze off or use the restroom during that ordeal.

The police later moved me to Hegang Second Detention, where I was given a meager amount of undercooked food every day. The soup often had mud and flies in it.

Several months later, the Xing’sn Court sentenced me to seven years, and my employer, the Xingshan District Government, fired me shortly afterwards.

I was transferred to Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison in May 2009.

Several monitors were assigned to watch me around the clock. They tried to force me to watch videos slandering Falun Gong and to make statements against the practice. When I refused, they forced me to stand for long periods of time, during which time they limited the number of times I could drink water, eat meals, wash myself, or use the restroom.

They moved me to a different division four months later. I was forced to do long hours of work without pay. The job included making cotton swabs and sewing hats. Quite a few times I passed out due to exhaustion.

The prison director instigated the guards and the inmates alike to persecute Falun Gong practitioners by offering promotions or term reductions. As I refused to renounce Falun Gong, I became a target and was often subjected to various forms of torture and abuse.

My release in 2015 didn’t bring me much respite. A train trip in May 2016 ended with me being targeted again. Though I wasn’t arrested, my copy of Zhuan Falun was confiscated. 

I wonder when Falun Gong practitioners will be able to freely practice their faith in China.