78-year-old Woman Dies after Being Harassed by the Police for a Year and a Half

(Minghui.org)

Name: Lei BaoliangChinese Name: 雷保良Gender: FemaleAge: 78City: ChenzhouProvince: HunanOccupation: N/ADate of Death: December 27, 2022Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 2002Most Recent Place of Detention: Luosiling Detention Center

Ms. Lei Baoliang survived years of relentless torture in custody following three arrests between October 1999 and August 2002 for practicing Falun Gong, only to be harassed again by police starting May 2021.

Living in constant fear of being arrested at any time, Ms. Lei suffered systemic edema and other medical conditions. The once-healthy woman passed away on December 27, 2022. She was 78.

Ms. Lei of Chenzhou City, Hunan Province, took up Falun Gong in November 1993 and she credited the practice for freeing her from the suffering of many ailments, including herniated disc, hepatitis B, rheumatoid arthritis, amblyopia, and advanced breast tumors.

Because she refused to renounce Falun Gong when the communist regime initiated the persecution in 1999, she was arrested in October 1999 for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. She was arrested again a month later and given a two-year term in Baimalong Forced Labor Camp. Her term was extended by six months because she didn’t renounce Falun Gong.

At the labor camp, Ms. Lei was savagely beaten, held in solitary confinement, hung up, and forced to take unknown drugs. The toxicity of the drugs made her knees swell and left her covered in small, itchy bumps. She scratched the bumps until they bled and festered.

Only months after she was released, she was arrested again in August 2002 for talking to another practitioner. She was later sentenced to a year and a half, and the practitioner she talked to received three years.

Upon returning home from prison, Ms. Lei resumed practicing Falun Gong and regained her health. She lived on her own to lessen the burden on her children.

On May 8, 2021, three officers from the Yanquanlu Police Station broke into Ms. Lei’s home and warned her that she wasn’t allowed to go out. If she did, they might arrest her at any time. They stayed at her place for nearly four hours. Before they left, they took some of her Falun Gong informational materials.

Suspecting that the police had found out that she was hosting a study group in her home, Ms. Lei told other practitioners not to come anymore. She also stopped visiting them.

But this didn’t stop the police and residential committee staff members from harassing her. They stayed at her home for half an hour or longer each time.

Once when the police were banging on Ms. Lei’s door, her landlord who lived upstairs came to see what was going on. When she urged the police not to harass Ms. Lei, the police asked her if she practiced Falun Gong and demanded to check her residence. She repeatedly told them that Ms. Lei was a good person and that they shouldn’t arrest her.

Although the police didn’t arrest Ms. Lei, they returned frequently to harass her, hinting that she was being monitored and that they could arrest her at any time. Ms. Lei said the fear was like having a gun pointed at her head all the time and the mental pressure was overwhelming. The isolation from other practitioners further aggravated her anxiety and she passed away soon after.

Details about Ms. Lei’s previous persecution can be read at: “Once Paralyzed after Being Tortured in a Forced Labor Camp, 77-year-old Woman Harassed Again for Her Faith.”