Woman Tortured to Unconsciousness on Fourth Day of Prison Admission

(Minghui.org) A 59-year-old woman in Changchun City, Jilin Province, was tortured until she passed out four days after she was admitted to prison. Ms. Zhou Yafen didn’t regain consciousness for two days. Her perpetrators were not punished since guards had been ordered to abuse her.

Ms. Zhou was arrested in late August 2022 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She was held in Changchun City No. 2 Detention Center before being transferred to Jilin Province Women’s Prison in Changchun City on April 29, 2023. It is unclear when she was sentenced or what her exact prison term is.

First Day in Prison: Beaten by Gang of 20+ Inmates

Upon her arrival at the prison, Ms. Zhou was placed in Cell Five of Division Eight on the first floor. Guards assigned inmates Wang Lina and Zha Guang to “work on her” and gave them free rein to torture her as long as they could make her renounce Falun Gong.

Ms. Zhou refused to give up her belief and was subjected to various forms of abuse at the hands of Zha and Wang. Every time she needed to stand up, Zha, a large woman, would press her down. When she tried again, Zha would press her down again.

Zha and Wang also stripped Ms. Zhou down to her undergarments and forced her to sit on a small plastic stool. They then opened two windows facing each other to create a cross-breeze to blow on her. It was still chilly in Changchun in April. Those wearing winter coats shivered in the cold, and Ms. Zhou was freezing.

Zha ordered Ms. Zhou to sit with her legs pressed against each other and her hands on her lap. Whenever she moved a bit, Zha beat her savagely. Ms. Zhou screamed in pain, and Zha and Wang then covered her mouth.

When it was close to ten on Ms. Zhou’s first night in the prison, Zha and Wang didn’t allow her to sleep or keep herself warm with her comforter. Ms. Zhou protested their inhumane treatment. Zha responded, “You resist being 'transformed' so we’re committing no crimes even if we abuse you to death. The guards told us there is a death quota [of Falun Gong practitioners].”

Zha then ran to the cell door and yelled to the hallway, “Tutu!” (a code word used by the inmates to indicate it was time to intensify persecution of detained Falun Gong practitioners). About 20 inmates came out of nine other cells on the first floor and rushed to Cell Five. They swarmed Ms. Zhou, some of them punching her, some pinching her thighs, some grabbing her neck, some slapping her in the face, and some spewing profanities at her. They included inmates Sun Xue, Han Dongmei, and Xia Wei.

Ms. Zhou was beaten so badly that her body was twisted and covered in bruises. Her lower body in particular turned black and purple.

Second Day in Prison: Denied Restroom Use and Later Administered Enema

During the first two days, Zha also didn’t allow Ms. Zhou to use the restroom, and she had to relieve herself in her pants, causing an odor in the whole cell. Even so, Zha still denied her restroom use.

Ms. Zhou soon became constipated and was extremely uncomfortable. Zha, Wang, and another inmate Gao Lina then took her to the prison hospital for an enema.

Upon returning to the cell, Zha bragged to other inmates, “We gave her two enemas in a row, and she screamed from the pain.” It was unclear what else they did to Ms. Zhou, because she had bowel movements many times after she came back and often had to manually remove her stool.

Zha and Wang, along with the guards, cuffed her hands to her bed before stripping her to her undergarments and opening the windows so that she would freeze.

Third Day in Prison: Becoming Incontinent and Having Toilet Brush Shoved into Her Mouth

On the third day, Ms. Zhou became incontinent and had bowel movements more than ten times, which caused her so much pain that she cried. Her cellmates knew she had soiled her pants again whenever they smelled the odor. Zha and Wang then pulled down her pants and scolded and beat her.

Zha cuffed Ms. Zhou’s hands to a bed and covered her mouth with a rag. Zha then poked a toilet brush wrapped in gauze into her mouth. Zha twisted the brush handle on purpose to cause more pain. Ms. Zhou’s mouth bled profusely as a result. The bed and the floor were stained with blood. Zha later lied to the guards that Ms. Zhou bled because she had bitten her own mouth.

Fourth Day in Prison: Falling Into a Coma

At around 4 a.m. on the fourth day, the inmate on duty noted that Ms. Zhou was rolling her eyes and not breathing. She had fallen into a coma. Only then did Zha and Wang notify Captain Gao and take her to the prison hospital. They put her on IV drips, but she didn’t regain consciousness until two days later. She then went on a hunger strike in protest. She is currently held in the Tenth Division for the elderly and infirm.

Prison Uses Criminal Inmates to Torture Other Practitioners

Zha is from Baicheng City, Liaoning Province, and was convicted of fraud. The guards have used her and other criminals (including murderers and robbers) to torture Falun Gong practitioners.

The torture methods used against Ms. Zhou have been used on many other practitioners, including Ms. Fu Yanfei, a teacher who is serving five years for practicing Falun Gong.

Zha once pulled off Ms. Fu’s pubic hair, slapped her in the face, and forced her to stand for long periods of time. Ms. Fu has been reduced to skin and bones and become mentally disoriented. She often vomited and became incontinent.

Related Report:

Jilin Teacher Imprisoned Again for Her Faith, Autistic Son and Family in Despair