Retired Preschool Teacher Loses Pension After Serving Three Years for Her Faith

(Minghui.org) Ms. Li Caixia, a retired preschool teacher from Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia, walked out of prison in July 2022 after three years of incarceration for her faith in Falun Gong, only to find that her pension had been cancelled by the Chifeng Social Security Bureau. Meanwhile, officials from the judicial department, the police and the residential committee still constantly harass her and monitor her daily activities.

Ms. Li filed a complaint with the Songshan District Court against the suspension of her pension. It’s not clear whether the court has accepted her case. 

Taking up Falun Gong

Growing up in the countryside, Ms. Li married a man in the city at the age of 23 in the hope of a better life, only to become a victim of domestic violence. Her husband treated her even worse after she gave birth to a daughter. She had to divorce him in order to survive. She and her daughter led difficult a life until she took up Falun Gong in July 1999.

Ms. Li regained her health while reading Zhuan Falun the first time. While learning the meaning of life through the practice, she became a happy and kind person. Her happy days didn’t last very long, however, before the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution on July 20, 1999. 

Over the next 24 years, Ms. Li was detained by the authorities, given three years of forced labor, displaced for four years, sentenced to three years in prison and subjected to constant harassment, in addition to the latest round of financial devastation.

Detention at Outset of Persecution

Officers from the Xicheng Police Station in Chifeng City seized Ms. Li on July 22, 1999, two days after the persecution began. Seven officers interrogated her for information about the number of practitioners in her local area and how they communicated with each other.

One of the officers grabbed Ms. Li by the hair, and another one kicked her to the ground. She was forced to kneel on the rough side of a washboard, causing her knees to bleed shortly afterward. To prevent her from shouting in pain, an officer wrapped a shoe brush with rags and stuffed it into her mouth. Then they took turns punching and kicking her. They shocked her face with electric batons for about half an hour. A handful of her hair was pulled out.

That same day, the police raided Ms. Li’s home and took away her Falun Gong books. Three days later, she was taken to a detention center where she was also verbally abused. She was released 15 days later.

Since then, the police constantly went to to Ms. Li’s home to harass her. Wu Xiaoping, a staff member of the local residential committee, monitored her daily life for many years.

Three Years of Forced Labor

Wu and a police officer broke into Ms. Li’s home on November 23, 2004 to harass her. Upon seeing some Falun Gong-related printed materials, they ransacked the place and confiscated everything they could find related to Falun Gong. 

Ms. Li was taken to the police station and interrogated about where she got the materials. After that, she was taken to the Hongshan District Detention Center. After 47 days of detention, she was given three years of forced labor and fined 4,000 yuan, then transferred to Tumuji Forced Labor Camp.

In addition to the heavy labor in the forced labor camp, Ms. Li was subjected to torture, including being forced to stand for extended periods of time, sleep deprivation, and physical abuse by the inmates. After one round of abuse, one of her legs bled and she was unable to walk on her own.

Displaced for Four Years

Wu and the police attempted to arrest Ms. Li at home again in September 2012, but she wasn’t home. With no one present, they confiscated her Falun Gong-related belongings plus 600 yuan in cash without leaving any records.

The officers came back several times attempting to seize Ms. Li, but failed. Some of them stayed near her home on the lookout for her. 

To hide from the police, Ms. Li was forced to live away from home for four years.

Sentenced to Three Years in Prison

Ms. Li was arrested at home again on July 2, 2019. The police confiscated her Falun Gong books and other personal belongings. Earlier that day, another local practitioner, Ms. Yu Guilan, in her 70s, was reported for putting up Falun Gong posters in a residential area. After going through the videos taken by surveillance cameras in the neighborhood, the police found that Ms. Yu had visited Ms. Li that day and thus arrested both of them.

Six other practitioners, including Ms. Sun Xiulan and her husband Mr. Ju Guanghua, Ms. Liu Shulan, Ms. Liu Yuping, Ms. Zhang Limin and Ms. Duan Lianying, were also arrested over the next several days, after the police found they’d had contact with Ms. Li and Ms. Yu. Although most of them were released shortly after arrest, Ms. Li remained in custody and was charged with having banknotes printed with information about Falun Gong.

Both Ms. Li and Ms. Duan were later sentenced to three years in prison. Ms. Li was held at the Hongshan District Detention Center until being taken to the Inner Mongolia Women’s Prison in Hohhot City on January 16, 2020. Her family was kept in the dark during the whole process.

Drugged in Prison

As soon as Ms. Li arrived at the prison, the guards took her to the medical room. With armed officers guarding the door, guard Bao Xiaoyan forced Ms. Li to take off her pants, while still being handcuffed and shackled. With the excuse of performing a gynecological examination, the prison doctor applied an unknown drug into her vagina. She immediately experienced excruciating pain and almost fainted. Since then, she suffered from severe abdominal pain and her urine has been sticky and frothy, even until now.

During her time in prison, the guards forced Ms. Li to take medicine every day, claiming it was to treat her high blood pressure, while many other inmates who suffer real high blood pressure weren’t given the “medicine.” The inmates severely beat her if she refused to take the pills. Shortly after, Ms. Li began to feel constant nausea and dizziness. She also had pain in her back and legs, as well as numbness in her hands and feet. 

When Ms. Li refused to take the pills, the guards forced her to sign a liability waiver. One day during lunch, Ms. Li saw an inmate secretly sprinkling a packet of white powder into her lunch bowl before handing it to her. She demanded a chemical analysis of her lunch. The prison guard only pretended to scold the inmate and never followed up on her request.

The prison guards attempted to coerce Ms. Li into taking pills again. She refused to comply. Since then, she noticed that her back pain subsided and other symptoms were also alleviated. 

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Inner Mongolia Woman Sentenced to Three Years