(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old woman has been forced to live away from home for eight months to avoid being imprisoned for her faith in Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

Ms. Li Zhenlian of Taian City, Shandong Province, was arrested after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong at a farmers’ market on September 23, 2016. The police searched her bag and confiscated her Falun Gong materials. She was released on bail in the evening after her family paid 1,000 yuan bond to the police.

Two years later, the police knocked on Ms. Li’s door on September 10, 2018. When she refused to open the door, the police cut off her electricity for two days. She shouted by the window to her neighbors about the persecution. The police then turned her power back on.

Two officers from the Domestic Security Division came to Ms. Li’s home on September 12 and told her that her case from two years ago had been reopened.

The police submitted Ms. Li’s case to Feicheng City Procuratorate on January 16, 2019. She was indicted and had her case forwarded to Feicheng City Court on the same day, when the judge assigned to her case also granted her bail condition.

Ms. Li appeared in court on April 1, 2019. She was ordered to go back to the court on April 26, 2019 to verify certain information. When she went on April 26, the police forcibly took her to undergo a physical examination before taking her to Taian City Detention Center. There, the police announced her verdict given by the court on April 1–she was sentenced to 3.5 years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan.

But due to Ms. Li’s medical condition, the detention center refused to admit her. The police had to send her back home.

A staff member from the court called Ms. Li in May 2019 and ordered her to serve time in the prison. To avoid the persecution, Ms. Li left home and has been displaced since.