(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioners Cao Zhenqi and his wife from Changyi City, Shandong Province, have been sentenced to a labor camp for three years after being illegally arrested by police from the 610 Office. This has forced their two daughters to discontinue their studies in middle school, and their lives are now very difficult.

On May 19, 2005, Chen Xiaodong, chief of the Changyi City 610 Office, together with Ma Fusheng, director of Zhangling Township Police Station, directed six police cars and several police officers to surround Cao Zhenqi's residence. Afterwards they smashed the windows and the security door. They then forced their way into the house, and arrested Cao Zhenqi and his wife. In addition, they ransacked the house twice.

After Mr. and Mrs. Cao were arrested and detained, their two daughters, who were studying in middle school, immediately found themselves in a predicament. No one would prepare food for them, and they also couldn't afford the school tuition. As a result, they have discontinued their studies. Cao Zhenqi's parents are in their sixties and suffer from hypertension. When placed under duress, they feel dizzy and sometimes lose consciousness. Facing the grievous situation resulting from the persecution, how can they avoid anxiety? They can hardly shoulder the two children's' livelihoods, much less pay their tuition.

Chu Mengmeng, one of the two daughters, is Cao Zhenqi's stepdaughter. Her mother remarried Cao Zhenqi after her father died. Facing such a dilemma, she has returned to her grandmother's home to alleviate the burden on her step-grandparents. Her grandmother is over 70 years old, weak and prone to illness. She has lost the ability to work, and can only sigh in despair to her granddaughter. Chu Mengmeng hoped to continue her studies, but dependence on her grandmother only allows for minimal living expenses. Going to school is simply impossible for her.

In this way a perfectly good family was forced into a hopeless situation. The two children cannot go to school, cannot go back to their own home, and cannot find jobs since they have not passed the age requirement for child labor. Such situations are innumerable in China. Countless Falun Gong practitioners' families have been torn apart, and family members are killed due to their beliefs.

Phone number of Zhangling Township Police Station: 86-536-7772005

August 27, 2005