69-year-old Woman Bedridden After Being Persecuted Repeatedly for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) Ms. Peng Jinxiang, also known as Peng Xiaomei, is a resident of Changsha City, Hunan Province. She is currently bedridden and unable to care for herself after being repeatedly arrested, detained, and tortured for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Despite her current state, the local police and procuratorate continued to harass her and her family on the phone.

Ms. Peng, 69, used to work in the medical office of China Construction Bank before retiring. Below is what she has suffered in the past two years:

Someone knocked on Ms. Peng’s door at 12:40 p.m. on May 13, 2021. She thought it was an acquaintance and quickly opened the door. Three strangers (two men and one woman) barged in and started ransacking her house. They didn’t show their IDs but Ms. Peng recognized the two men as officers Li Zonggen and Wang from Xinhe Police Station. The woman recorded the raid with a camcorder. About 10 minutes later, officer Li took out a subpoena and search warrant with Ms. Peng’s name and residential address and a police station seal on it.

They wanted to take Ms. Peng away but she refused. She tried to tell them the facts about Falun Gong but they refused to listen. She wanted to call her elder brother to come over but the police forbade her from calling and snatched away her two cell phones when she tried to take a photo of them with one of the phones.

The officers called in an ambulance to measure Ms. Peng’s blood pressure when they saw her face looked abnormal. When Ms. Peng refused to cooperate, the police called in the deputy police chief, Xu Jun. Upon arriving, Xu said, “Handcuff her and bring her to the car. Step on the Falun Gong Master’s portrait if she refuses to cooperate.” Xu also mentioned that he has stepped on the portrait twice during other arrests. Ms. Peng cried upon hearing this and told them not to do this. To protect the portrait at her home, she agreed to go with them to the police station. Two officers stayed behind to continue ransacking the house before leaving with four bags containing a laptop, 60 Falun Gong books, and other materials.

Ms. Peng was interrogated by Li Yi, the criminal investigation captain at Kaifu District police department. She was asked about what she did on June 14, 2020 when she was reported for raising aware of the persecution. Though the 2020 case has been closed, Li asked her for the source of her materials and where she had distributed them. Li also forcibly took her fingerprints and toeprints, and made her submit to an iris and blood test. She was later held in the waiting room.

By 11 p.m., Ms. Peng was sent to the hospital and diagnosed with high blood pressure. She told the police that her health became poor after she was arrested that morning. She stayed in the observation room for a night and was taken to the local detention center the next morning. The detention center refused to admit her after she failed the physical examination. She was sent back to the police station at 4 p.m. The police released her an hour later and placed her under house surveillance.

The police station called Ms. Peng on June 23, 2022 and she was given a summons by Liuyang City Court. She refused to sign the summons.

Three police officers knocked on the door of Ms. Peng’s home on September 24 and ordered her to go to the hospital for a physical examination as they needed to submit her medical report to the procuratorate. When she did not open the door, the police called in a locksmith to pry open her door and barged in. She was handcuffed and dragged when she refused to cooperate with them. The hospital ordered a few tests, including a blood test that must be done on an empty stomach. Thus, Ms. Peng was sent back home at 5 p.m.

Around midnight of October 16, Ms. Peng heard someone knocking on her door and claiming to be there to survey the COVID situation. She woke up her husband. Nine plainclothes police officers barged in after the door was opened. Deputy chief Xu told Ms. Peng that he will be in charge of her current case and showed her a search warrant and a subpoena. She was charged with “using a cult to undermine the law enforcement,” the standard pretext used by the regime to frame practitioners. The subpoena was issued by Kaifu District police department but bore no signature of the director. Xu said that the search warrant was also issued by Kaifu District police department.

Afterwards, they started ransacking Ms. Peng’s home and even checked her washing machine and wardrobes carefully. Two officers kept watch of Ms. Peng’s husband to prevent him from moving around. 

The police confiscated the complaint that Ms. Peng had prepared against her perpetrators, Falun Gong books, and personal items, without giving her a list of items confiscated. The whole process took one hour and 20 minutes, and her music player and laptop were damaged. When Ms. Peng wanted to report them, they forbade her from doing so and took away her phone and address book.

Ms. Peng was taken away after the raid. While en route to the police station, the police told her that they saw her pushing a cart near Sipingfang District through a CCTV. Ms. Peng did push a cart there one day to buy vegetables at the market. Due to the pandemic restrictions, there were not many people on the street and she happened to meet a practitioner, Ms. Xiao Deyu. The two of them had walked together for a while before separating.

Ms. Peng was taken to Changsha City No. 1 Hospital for a physical examination and was diagnosed with high blood pressure.

On October 16, an officer surnamed Li from Kaifu District police department came to interrogate her. She asked which law she had allegedly violated. Li refused to reply and instead asked what transportation mode she used to get to Sipingfang via what route, if she had made plans in advance to meet Ms. Xiao, and whether she knew Ms. Xiao’s home address. Ms. Peng said that she doesn’t know Ms. Xiao’s address. The officer also asked some questions about Falun Gong and ordered her to sign the interrogation records. She then wrote, “This case has nothing to do with me. They bent the law for personal gain and framed me. Prosecutors please inspect the police.” Li then drew her blood and took her fingerprints, voice, height, and footprints against her will.

Ms. Peng was sent to Changsha City Detention Center two days later. Despite her high blood pressure, the police department director said that if she had to die, he would rather see her die in the detention center. While detained, Ms. Peng wrote a complaint letter and the police confiscated it for fear of being held responsible.

On the morning of October 21, Ms. Peng could not move her body and felt dizzy. Her hands and legs were numb and had no strength. Her blood pressure couldn’t be measured. She had went on a hunger strike to oppose the persecution. She was later sent to the hospital and her blood pressure remained high after three days of hospitalization.

The police station was afraid of being held responsible and called her family on October 24 to bring her home. They gave Ms. Peng a notice of house surveillance but she refused to sign it. Accompanied and supported by her family, she returned home that night, but has yet to recover. She cannot take care of herself.

At the same time, Ms. Xiao was also arrested by Kaifu District police department. When doing the PCR test, she was very weak and had to be carried by the police. Despite this, she was not put on an IV drip and some police said that she was faking it. She went on a hunger strike for three days and is currently detained at Changsha City Detention Center.

Related report:Falun Gong Practitioner Continues to Suffer Nine Months after Hunan Police Forcibly Drew Blood and Injected Her with Unknown Drug