(Minghui.org) A Qinhuangdao City resident passed away less than two months after she was arrested while reading the teachings of Falun Gong with three other people.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Shang Xiujun lost more than 20 lbs and began to suffer from back pain during the ten days she was held in Qinhuangdao No.1 Detention Center. She felt very weak and didn't have an appetite after she was released on May 7, 2018.
After returning home, she learned that the police had deceived her family, saying that she would be released if they paid the police 10,000 yuan.
They handed over the funds, only to see her taken to the detention center anyway. The police never returned the money, even after Ms. Shang was released.
The financial loss and 10 days of detention weighed heavily on Ms. Shang, and fear of further persecution aggravated her decline. She had a stroke in early June and was taken to the hospital on June 10.
Ms. Shang passed away on June 17, 2018. She was 50.
Ms. Shang began to practice Falun Gong in May 1999 when she was suffering from ovarian cancer. Her cancer disappeared, but she stopped practicing Falun Gong out of fear when the communist regime launched the persecution two months later.
In 2003, she was diagnosed with advanced intestinal cancer at the age of 35. Just before she was about to have surgery to remove the tumor, she met a Falun Gong practitioner, who encouraged her to pick up the practice again.
She agreed and began to read Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong, after returning home. The tumor disappeared, and her health was again restored. Grateful for the practice that saved her life twice, she shared her story with local residents, hoping that more people could benefit from it.
Because she continued to tell people about Falun Gong, the police targeted her and she was arrested several times.
Ms. Shang's latest arrest took place on April 27, 2018, when she was studying Zhuan Falun with three other practitioners, Mr. Gao Xingtai, 65; Ms. Li Guibin, 75; and Ms. Song Hezhen, in her 70s.
More than 20 officers broke into Mr. Gao's home, where they were studying, raided the home and confiscated their Falun Gong books.
The four practitioners were taken to the Shimenzhai Township Police Station. Except for Ms. Song, who was released around 10 p.m., the other three were taken to a hospital for physical exams so that the police could get them admitted to the detention center.
Ms. Shang was admitted to the detention center later that evening. Mr. Gao and Ms. Li were denied admission due to their high blood pressure, and the police released them early in the morning on April 28, placing them both under house arrest.
The police later submitted the practitioners' cases to the procuratorate and repeatedly harassed Mr. Gao and Ms. Li. When Ms. Li refused to sign the interrogation record fabricated by the police, the officer signed her name on the form.
Twice Saved from Cancer by Falun Dafa, Ms. Shang Xiujun Becomes a Target of Persecution