(Minghui.org) Ms. Song Xiaohua, a 74-year-old Harbin City, Heilongjiang Province, resident, was arrested on March 11, 2024, after she was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was detained at the Harbin City Second Detention Center. The local court held a virtual hearing of her case in the detention center on August 22, 2024. Other details about her case aren’t clear.

Ms. Song took up Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline, in August 1996. Her many ailments, including tracheitis, anal fissure, stomach disease, and arthritis, soon disappeared. Her tense relationship with her husband also changed for the better.

After the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, Ms. Song went to Beijing to appeal, but was arrested by plainclothes officers from the Harbin City Liaison Office in Beijing. She was escorted back to Harbin and detained for 64 days.

On January 20, 2001, Li Yueli, an employee of the local village government, deceived Ms. Song into going to a brainwashing center with him. Officer Liu Xichen beat Ms. Song with plastic pipes, handcuffed her and hung her up. In the evening, they forced her to stand in a room without heat supply until 2 a.m. She was terrified and couldn’t eat, so the officers force-fed her. As a result of the abuse, she had severe back pain and couldn’t stand straight.

A group of officers broke into Ms. Song’s home again on the evening of February 28, 2004 and asked her whether she was still practicing Falun Gong. They said that if she had given it up, they would leave immediately; but if she was still practicing, they would take her away. When she confirmed that she wouldn’t give up her faith, they arrested her and took her to the Shuangcheng City Detention Center. She held a hunger strike for five days and was released.

Xu Lijun, an agent with the Chaoyang Village government, came to Ms. Song’s home in July 2004 and ordered her to go with him. He first took her to a funereal home without stating a reason and then detained her at a brainwashing center for three days.

In the following years, the local police and government officials continued to harass Ms. Song from time to time and ordered her to sign statements to renounce Falun Gong. She and her family lived in fear and were under tremendous pressure.