(Minghui.org) An elderly woman in Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province was given 7.5 years in prison in 2016 for upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a meditation practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
While being tortured in Heilongjiang Provincial Women’s Prison, Ms. Liang Cuirong went on a hunger strike twice for a total of 58 days to protest the persecution. The inmates instigated by the prison guards punched her head so hard that her denture was shattered. They repeatedly picked her up and threw her on the ground, eventually fracturing her spine.
One month after Ms. Liang was released in November 2023, the local officials in Yichun City, agents from the 610 Office and a dozen police officers broke into her home, ordering the 78-year-old to sign the statements to renounce her faith. She was terrified and fainted. Still now the police and community officials in Jinlin District monitor her closely.
Before she took up Falun Gong, Ms. Liang suffered physically after she gave birth. She felt cold even in summers despite wearing padded clothes and shoes. She had tremendous pain all over. Her stomach hurt so bad that she could only take in a little rice soup and water every day to stay alive.
She learned Falun Gong in 1998 when she was 52, and 20 days later her stomach was fine and she could eat normally. She started doing household chores. Six months later she could work and carry a sack of corn that weighed over 100 pounds (45 kg).
Sentenced By Kangaroo Court with Forged Evidence
Ms. Liang was arrested from her home on April 14, 2016. Her neighbor reported her to the police for posting Falun Gong fliers in the building, which she did not. The police took her to Fendou Police Station, ransacked her place, and confiscated her Falun Gong books, literatures and music player.
During the interrogation, the police tried to force her to give information on the practitioner who gave her the Falun Gong literature. She refused to. The police then forged the list of objects confiscated from her home by adding 100 Falun Gong fliers to the list. When she refused to put down her fingerprint on the list, several officers dragged her to a room without a surveillance camera and beat her.
An officer said, “If you give us the name of one Falun Gong practitioner, we will reduce your sentence by one year. If not, we’ll make sure that you die in prison.” She remained silent. The officers twisted her arms behind her back and pushed her arms over her head, causing her excruciating pain. An officer then grabbed her hand and pressed her finger onto the fabricated case document.
The police immobilized her with a metal chain and did not let her use the bathroom. That evening they gave her a bowl of noodles. After she ate, she overheard the police officers saying that they drugged her food. Two hours later she became muddle-headed and had a hard time speaking.
A few days later she was taken to the Yichun Detention Center, where she went on a hunger strike. Her trial was held four months later on August 22, 2016. There were no witnesses, and she was tried based on the evidence forged by the police. The judge sentenced her to 7.5 years in prison with a 10,000-yuan fine.
Ms. Liang filed an appeal with the Yichun City Intermediate Court. Her lawyer asked the court to reconsider the case because the police forged evidence against her. Yet the judge still ruled to uphold her sentence. Ms. Liang, then 70 years old, was taken to the Heilongjiang Provincial Women’s Prison in December 2016.
Torture in Prison Causing Shattered Denture, Fractured Bones, and Hair Loss
Ms. Liang was put in the strict management ward, where the practitioners who refused to renounce their faith faced escalated torture. In order to be rewarded with reduced sentences, the inmates actively assisted the guards in the torture. These collaborators made Ms. Liang sit still on a small stool with her hands on her knees for hours every day. The torture caused her back to ache, her legs to swell, and her buttock to fester. If she moved just a little, they would verbally abuse and beat her.
Torture reenactment: Sitting still for long hours on a small stool.
A few days later the collaborators grabbed Ms. Liang and pushed her down on the bed, and repeatedly punched her face. The violence shattered her denture, and caused her gums, tongue and the inside of her cheeks to bleed. Her face became swollen and purple. Unable to chew her food after that, she survived on drinking thin rice porridge.
One time four collaborators grabbed her arms and legs as soon as she returned to her cell from the bathroom. They picked her up, and forcibly threw her on the ground. After a few times, she felt excruciating pain in her internal organs and head.
One of them told her that they’d stop torturing her once she signed her name on a piece of paper to renounce her faith. As soon as she refused, they put her on a special stool with a protrusion in the middle of the seat. They pushed her down on the seat, and she felt sharp pain on her anus. They then stuffed her mouth with a piece of cloth and taped it. One of them brought a rope and tied it around her neck, and threatened to drag her on the ground until she died in pain. An inmate from a different cell came to her defense and reported the torture to a guard. The guard did not want to make a scene and called off the torture on Ms. Liang.
As a result of the torture, Ms. Liang couldn’t walk anymore, and needed to be carried to the bathroom. The guards took her to a hospital, and she was diagnosed with severe fractures on her waist spinal cord. Despite her condition, the guards didn’t only handcuff and shackle her, but also chained her to the hospital bed.
The collaborators faced no consequence for torturing Ms. Liang, and they assaulted her spontaneously whenever they got a chance. At times the collaborators intentionally prevented her from using the bathroom, showering or sleeping.
A collaborator once grabbed her hair and slammed her head against the bed railing while punching her face. Her nose bled profusely even after she used up an entire roll of toilet paper.
One day a collaborator poured a bottle of iodine alcohol over her head. In a few days, the hair on the top of her head fell out, and the rest of her hair was bleached gray.
A collaborator who took her to the bathroom kicked and beat her there, and she couldn’t sleep for days due to the pain from the injuries. One time the collaborator suspected that she met up with another practitioner in the bathroom. The collaborator pushed her so hard that she fell and couldn’t get up.
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Category: Torture of Women
