(Minghui.org) Editor’s note: A 64-year-old retired middle school teacher in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, was sentenced to 3.5 years in 2021 for telling people about the persecution of her faith, Falun Gong. She suffered severe torture in custody and lost the ability to work. Worse yet, the local social security bureau suspended her pension after her prison release in August 2024, causing great financial difficulty for her and her husband. She recounts her persecution below.

Ms. Wang Jiemei

Practicing Falun Gong

My name is Wang Jiemei. I’m 64 this year. Before I retired, I worked as a teacher at the Wanghua District No.8 Middle School. When I was born, it was during the last year of the Great Famine. My mom didn’t have breast milk for me. I could only eat some leftover cornmeal scraped off the pan. As a result of severe malnutrition, I had a big head with a weak neck. My lazy eye condition also made it hard to see things clearly and rendered me unable to read for longer than two hours, or my head would feel splitting pain.

Although I survived, I was calcium deficient and my legs were bent; I had frequent headaches; and I had severe arthritis and couldn’t walk very far. After I got married and gave birth to my child, I was unable to walk for a month. Because I was so weak, I looked like an elderly woman when I was only 37. 

To make things worse, I suffered carbon monoxide poisoning and couldn’t fall asleep at night. Gradually, I developed severe anemia, cholecystitis, and constipation. My period usually lasted nearly 20 days with very heavy menstrual flow. My pale face was scary to look at. 

One night when I was tutoring students, I suddenly felt very cold. After I went to the hospital, I was found to have uterine fibroids and I was operated on. Although my period became normal afterward, I still struggled with my other ailments. I tried all kinds of medicines and therapies to improve my health, but nothing worked.

In 1998, I heard about the health benefits of Falun Gong and began to practice it. The first night, after reading just seven pages of Zhuan Falun, the main text of Falun Gong, I had such sound sleep for the first time in decades. I was so happy! 

Gradually, most of my conditions disappeared one after another. Without the physical suffering, my bad temper also improved. Seeing my changes, my child said to me, “Mom, you are so sweet now! I was very scared of you in the past!”

With better health, I worked very hard and offered free tutoring to my students during lunch hours or on Sundays. My students’ academic performances kept improving. 

Some of my students’ parents divorced or they had financial difficulties. I also tried my best to help those kids, which was very encouraging to them. 

Sentenced and Tortured in Prison

During the pandemic in 2021, I went to the Gaokan Community Fair to distribute informational materials about Falun Gong. I hoped people could know about Falun Gong’s healing power and benefit from it like I did. But I was followed by a person named Jin Baozhen, who reported me to the Gaokan Police Station. I was arrested and later sentenced to 3.5 years with a 10,000-yuan fine by the Shenyang City Economic and Technological Development Zone Court. I spent the first two years of my term at the Shenyang City First Detention Center and the remaining time at the Fourth Division at Liaoning Province Second Women’s Prison. 

The prison guards used all kinds of methods in an attempt to force us (Falun Gong practitioners) to renounce our faith. If we didn’t comply, we would be forced to stand or sit on small stools without moving for long hours every day and were not allowed to use the restroom, wash ourselves or drink water. The guards also played audio smearing Falun Gong or verbally abused it themselves through a loudspeaker. 

On September 6, 2023, the inmate head Liang accused me of spending too much time washing myself and beat me on my head. 

The inmates also ordered me to accompany them to the restroom at night. I had to get up 4-7 times every night. I was sleep-deprived and often felt dizzy.

In the winter, I couldn’t fall asleep at night as my legs were sensitive to low temperatures. I asked for some hot water to warm myself up, but was denied by the inmates. The cold condition also caused my urethritis to recur. Despite my urge to use the restroom, the inmates sometimes didn’t allow me to. When I used the restroom one morning, I saw blood in my urine. 

While I was using the restroom on April 7, 2024, inmate Liang suddenly pulled me aside. I asked her what was wrong. She said that I wasn’t allowed to have contact with other Falun Gong practitioners. It turned out a practitioner in another team was also using the restroom, even though I didn’t know her. 

Also starting in April 2024, because I didn’t talk to an inmate as required, they punished me by forcing me to clean the cell every morning between 4: 30 and 5 a.m., for over four months. 

Inmate Liang always found ways to abuse me, including not giving me enough food, withholding my fruits or vegetables, or giving me rotten and/or small fruits. She often verbally abused me in front of others. When it was still very cold in mid-April 2024, she forced me to throw away my cotton-padded pants and jackets, with the excuse that I would be released soon. When I was taking a shower in May 2024, she suddenly poured cold water over me, knowing that I was cold intolerant. 

Even one month before my release, Liang still said to me, “Even though you are leaving, I won’t let you have a good life if you do not behave well.” 

After I was released in August 2024, my pension was suspended. As my husband was laid off in 2002 and he didn’t get a full-time job afterward, our financial situation was very poor. Sometimes we went to the farmers’ market to pick up vegetables left on the ground or buy food that was on sale. We struggle to make ends meet and it’s difficult going forward.

Related Reports:

Woman Imprisoned for Her Faith Also Has Her Pension Suspended

Retired Teacher Gets 3.5 Years for Sharing the Health Benefits of Falun Gong