(Clearwisdom.net) Dafa practitioner Ms. Tan Xiangyu is from Changsha City, Hunan Province. Because of her persistent practice of Falun Gong, she was forced to leave home and wander about to avoid further persecution by the Women's Prison of Changsha City.

Ms. Tan Xiangyu is 60 years old. She started practicing Falun Gong in June 1996. The illnesses that she had suffered from for years all disappeared magically, including her lower back pains, rheumatoid arthritis, tracheitis, and pulmonary emphysema. After the persecution of Falun Gong started, she was illegally arrested by policeman Fu Shengwen and others from Tianxin District Police Department in Changsha City on August 22, 2003, for refusing to give up her Falun Gong practice. The police attempted to extort a confession by torturing her for over a dozen hours. On August 23, she was sent to the Changsha City Detention Center and detained there until April 8, 2004, when they held a so-called "court sentence." She was sentenced to three years and six months.

In Changsha City Detention Center, Tan Xiangyu resisted the persecution and started a hunger strike. In mid October 2004, when her life was in danger, her family members requested to visit her. The detention center lied to her family and said that she did not want to be visited. Her family members went to the detention center many times to request her release, and also made many phone calls, but the detention center lied and said that they had to get a permit from the Changsha City Intermediate Court. However, the criminal Ouyang Ning from the 610 Office of Changsha City Intermediate Court kept ignoring them, and attempted to get away and not see them. Later, the detention center told them that Tan Xiangyu would be sent to the Women's Prison of Hunan Province on November 3. A policeman in the detention center even said to Tan Xiangyu, "Even if you die inside the detention center, we wouldn't be bothered."

The methods used by the Women's Prison of Hunan Province to persecute Dafa practitioners are very cruel. The criminals made use of other inmates to torture practitioners, and each practitioner is monitored by inmates. They also created a special "fortification team." There are seven rooms allocated for the "fortification team," which is above the reception floor. Each room could only accommodate one bed, and three persons shared one bed. The practitioner is forced to sleep in the middle in order for the two inmates to watch the practitioner around the clock. All seven rooms had to be full, and if in any month there were not enough practitioners sent into the prisons, they would put the steadfast practitioners into them.

The guards attempted to forcibly brainwash practitioners. They constantly broadcast videos that attacked Dafa, and forced practitioners to write their so-called "understandings." If the practitioners refuse to write, they are deprived of sleep and mentally tortured. The guards also kept changing their methods, using both tough and soft ways, including isolating practitioners in small cells, forcing them to sit on a single-legged stool, and to carry out heavy forced labor. As Tan Xiangyu was very weak because of the hunger strike, she was unable to complete the work that was forced upon her. The vicious guards then asked the inmates in the cell to attack her. The guards didn't let the inmates sleep, and stirred up trouble to say that it was the Falun Gong practitioners who didn't let them sleep. During the five months when Tan Xiangyu was detained there, every day she was forced to work from 6:00 a.m. Until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. the next morning. When the detention center sent her into the prison, she was diagnosed with having tuberculosis during the health check, and she had problems with both her blood pressure and heart. The prison hospital had rejected accepting her. However, a male guard and female guard from the detention center, who were responsible for sending inmates into the prison, put handcuffs and shackles on her, and sent her to the Changsha City Traditional Chinese Medical Hospital and the No. 121 Hospital. As the doctor feared being held responsible and refused to sign, the two guards bribed some people in power, collaborated with the Hunan Province Women's Prison, and finally sent Tan Xiangyu into the prison. Due to the cruel mental torture and heavy forced labor, her health deteriorated quickly. In August 2005, the prison sent 18 patients with tuberculosis, including Tan Xiangyu, to Huhan Province General Prison Hospital in Jin City of Changde. At that time, her lung was already perforated, and her health was even worse. She could not walk, her feet were swollen, and her liver was also in serious condition. Her whole body looked very pale, she could not eat, and was vomiting blood. A blood sample was taken from her every day for tests, as her liver had almost stopped functioning, and her life was in great danger. When her children and other family members went to visit her, the prison guards did not tell them the truth, and always tried to deny the visit. Under strong requests as well as bribes from the family members, she was bailed out for medical treatment after being detained there for almost a month. At that time, her son who was nearly 40 years old cried out loudly when seeing her. She was tortured so badly that she had already become deformed, and only weighed about 25 kilograms (55 pounds). She was carried away by her daughter, while the prison guards said, "If your mom dies, you should notify the prison."

Now more than one year has passed, and the evil prison guards still attempt to persecute her. They are looking for her everywhere, and are searching for her from Police Stations, the Neighborhood Committee, and the homes of her relatives in Changsha City. They even bothered to drive thousands of kilometers to her former workplace, the Nanling Chemical Factory of Shuangpai County, Yongzhou City of Hunan Province. As a result, she cannot return home and is in hiding to avoid being arrested again.

There are also some practitioners who's names are unknown, who are due to be released. However, the prison notified the local 610 Office beforehand and sent them straightaway from the prison to the local brainwashing center for further persecution. Their family members are anxiously looking forward to their return. In China, all the detention centers, forced labor camps and the prisons are cruelly persecuting Falun Gong practitioners. Why would anyone so brutally persecute people who simply want to be good and follow the principle of "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance?"

November 30, 2006