Belated News: Husband and Wife Die Seven Years Apart in the Persecution of Their Shared Faith

(Minghui.org)

Name: Xia WenzhongChinese Name: 夏文仲Gender: MaleAge: 59City: HandanProvince: HebeiOccupation: Cheng’an County Water Conservancy Bureau EmployeeDate of Death: March 14, 2005Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 31, 2002Most Recent Place of Detention: Jidong Prison

Name: Zhang LanfengChinese Name: 张兰凤Gender: FemaleAge: N/ACity: HandanProvince: HebeiOccupation: Elementary school teacherDate of Death: N/ADate of Most Recent Arrest: April 25, 2012Most Recent Place of Detention: Linzhang County Police Department

Shortly after Mr. Xia Wenzhong, a former employee of the Water Conservancy Bureau in Handan City, Hebei Province, took up Falun Gong in 1996, he quit smoking and drinking.

His wife, Ms. Zhang Lanfeng, an elementary school teacher, also experienced dramatic health improvement after she started practicing Falun Gong. Her heart condition, vertigo, and chronic cough that often left her bedridden all disappeared.

Both of the couple were deeply grateful for the benefits they received from Falun Gong. In their spare time, they traveled to nearby villages and townships to promote the practice, leading many people to take up Falun Gong.

Husband’s Passing

Because of their involvement in promoting Falun Gong, they were listed as key targets when the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999. The police came to harass them non-stop, sometimes breaking into their home in the middle of the night by scaling the fence. Mr. Xia was arrested at least ten times and spent years in custody. His workplace fired him, and the police extortion further worsened their financial distress.

Due to Mr. Xia’s incarceration, his family and village official had to make a special request in 2000 for him to attend the funeral of his daughter-in-law. His own daughter barely saw him again after she got married in 2001. It also took the family much effort to get Mr. Xia released temporarily in 2002 to attend his father’s funeral.

The late Mr. Xia Wenzhong

Mr. Xia Wenzhang and his wife Ms. Zhang Fengsheng while visiting the Great Wall in 1999

On February 12, 2001, while Mr. Xia was detained at the local detention center, over 50 officers went there, tied him and another practitioner, Mr. Zhai Liansheng, up, and took them for a public parade for two hours.

Upon returning to the detention center, both men were given labor camp terms. Due to Mr. Zhai’s advanced age and Mr. Xia’s dangerously high blood pressure, the Handan City Forced Labor Camp rejected their admission. The police still refused to release them, but transferred them to the Cheng’an County Detention Center. Mr. Zhai passed away shortly after.

Mr. Xia and Ms. Zhang were both arrested on August 31, 2002 during a gathering of 68 practitioners. The police beat them with batons and leather belts, burned them with cigarettes, and hit their heads against the wall. One of the practitioners, Mr. Xun Ruilin, died on September 8 that year while being force-fed at the Linzhang Detention Center.

At the Cheng’an County Police Department, Mr. Xia was shocked with electric batons. The police cuffed his hands to the metal rail in the hallway and left him standing overnight. After six days of torture, he developed extremely high blood pressure. He became incapacitated and was unable to talk. Despite his condition, the police kept him in custody for a year before secretly sentencing him to four years in August 2003.

Ms. Zhang was released after five months of detention. The police extorted 5,000 yuan from her.

Mr. Xia was first held at the Daming Prison, where the guards stripped off his clothes and beat him with a ruler. He was later transferred to the Jidong Prison. The over one year of torture there caused him to be in a delirious state. He also suffered severe injuries in one leg and kept having blood in his stool. Not until when he almost died did the guards finally release him.

Mr. Xia was incapacitated when he was released.

Mr. Xia’s family asked him what torture he suffered in prison. He appeared to be in extreme pain, but could no longer articulate it. He had tears in his eyes and kept saying, “It’s despicable! It’s despicable!”

The 59-year-old man passed away on March 14, 2005, 37 days after he was released. The mark from the tight tying torture in prison was still visible when he died.

After the police heard about his passing, they showed up at his memorial service and attempted to open his coffin to take his photos. Although the police relented with strong protest from his family, they forced the family to cremate him instead of burying him.

Wife Dies Years Later

On April 25, 2012, seven years after Mr. Xia’s passing, Ms. Zhang, then 64, was arrested while driving with a relative. The police accused her of distributing Falun Gong materials. They kept her in the Linzhang County Police Department and assigned four officers to monitor her.

Although Ms. Zhang was found to have high blood pressure and a severe heart condition, the police still attempted to keep her in custody. With her family’s relentless efforts to rescue her, she was released on bail, after paying the police 10,000 yuan.

The police never stopped coming to harass her after that. She succumbed to the tremendous pressure and fear, and passed away shortly after.

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