(Minghui.org) Many of Mr. Ding Guochen’s students were shocked and burst into tears upon hearing that their favorite math tutor was been arrested more than one month ago for not renouncing his faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

The students called Mr. Ding’s wife and asked when he would come back to teach them. One child said to his wife, “I couldn’t find a better teacher like him! I don’t want to go to other tutoring classes. I just want to study with teacher Ding.”

Mr. Ding, 48, a resident of Dalian City, Liaoning Province, had been given tutoring classes for two years. He treated every student with patience and care. Most of them improved quickly in their academics, and one student who often failed math exams now became the first place in his class.

On the morning of July 11, 2019, domestic security police broke into Mr. Ding’s home and office and arrested both him and his wife, Ms. Yan Qinghua. Officers ransacked the two places and confiscated their Falun Gong books, computer, printer, and Mr. Ding’s ID and credit and debit cards.

Both husband and wife were interrogated at the police station and had their blood drawn without being given an explanation, which is suspected to be connected to the state-sanctioned killing of Falun Gong practitioners for their organs.

While Ms. Yan was released later that day, Mr. Ding was taken to Jinzhou Detention Center in the evening.

With the family's breadwinner being held in detention, Ms. Yan now faces tremendous difficulty raising their two children and caring for an elderly parent. She frequented the police station to seek Mr. Ding's release in the past month, to no avail.

Mr. Ding credits Falun Gong for curing his Hepatitis B and complications from a stroke. He and his wife were fired from their jobs in 1999 for appealing to the central government in Beijing for their right to practice Falun Gong. Unable to find other jobs because of the persecution, the couple ran a small family business to make ends meet.

With his strong background in science and engineering, Mr. Ding began to offer math tutoring classes to students two years ago to supplement the family’s income.

Related report:

Shenyang City, Liaoning Province: 13 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in One Day