(Minghui.org) A 75-year-old retired teacher in Daqing City, Heilongjiang Province was diagnosed with mental illness earlier this year after being subjected to long-term abuse at Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison (also known as Harbin Women’s Prison).
Ms. Mou Yongxia’s latest prison sentence stemmed from an earlier arrest on March 16, 2018. She developed some symptoms while in detention and was released on bail on July 10, 2018. She was arrested again in Harbin (capital city of Heilongjiang Province) on September 11, 2019. She appeared in the Ranghulu District Court in Daqing City in May 2020 and was sentenced to six years in prison.
This is the second time that Ms. Mou has been sentenced for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice also known as Falun Dafa that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She was previously sentenced to four years in 2008 and served time in Heilongjiang Province Women’s Prison, where she was brutally tortured.
Ms. Mou was again subjected to various forms of abuse after being ordered to serve her second prison term in the same prison. She wrote many letters to the prison warden and division heads, urging them to stop persecuting imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners like her. They didn’t listen and she faced continued abuse. Her health declined as a result, to the point where she had to walk very slowly.
Ms. Mou became incontinent and soiled her pants one day in August 2022. Inmate Zhao Chao, who was newly-assigned to monitor Ms. Mou, savagely beat her and splashed cold water on her. From that point on, Ms. Mou exhibited an abnormal mental state. The head inmate, Pang Shoumei, however, kept beating her and also ordered other inmates to do the same. Inmate Wang Xin was particularly cruel in abusing Ms. Mou.
Two days before this year’s Chinese New Year (January 22, 2023), inmate Yang Haiyan (who has since been released) grew inpatient when Ms. Mou was not able to walk quickly. She pushed her hard and knocked her down. Ms. Mou’s face became swollen as a result. That night she also had frequent urination and had to get up more than ten times. Since she couldn’t squat down to use the regular toilet, she had to sit on a chamber pot. The inmates beat her for interrupting their sleep.
Pei Tong, vice head of the division where Ms. Mou was being held, took her to an outside hospital for a medical evaluation. She was found to have a mental disorder (though Pei didn’t reveal the exact name of the illness).
According to Falun Gong practitioners jailed in the same cell as Ms. Mou, she no longer recognized them.
Other Falun Gong Practitioners Also Abused
The prison used implication tactics to instigate hatred among the inmates towards Falun Gong practitioners. For instance, the guards sometimes suddenly stopped the inmates from brushing their teeth on the grounds that a certain practitioner refused to renounce her faith in Falun Gong. Some inmates beat the practitioner in response, while the guards turned a blind eye to it.
A practitioner named Wu Xi was a victim of such an implication tactic. She was beaten by inmates every day for more than two months, resulting in bloody marks on her face, neck, and hands.
An inmate named Xiao Shufen threatened practitioners many times last year. “If you say ‘Falun Dafa is good’ again, I’ll stuff your mouth with a toilet rag!”
In order to achieve a high “transformation rate” (percentage of Falun Gong practitioners forced to renounce their faith), the prison guards specifically selected ruthless criminals as assistants to torture practitioners in extremely cruel ways.
Shi Genghui, deputy warden of the prison, was in charge of the ideological reformation of detainees. He personally worked on “transforming” some Falun Gong practitioners.
It was learned that two of the imprisoned Falun Gong practitioners had their families hire lawyers to file complaints against the prison for subjecting them to various forms of torture. One practitioner filed her complaint with the prosecutor in residence at the prison, and another with the Prison Management Bureau. The guards lessened the torture of the two practitioners after their complaints. Other imprisoned practitioners should also take legal actions to protect themselves and lessen their persecution.
Related Reports:
Heilongjiang Teacher, 72, Sentenced to Six Years for Her Faith
Mother and Son Are Deprived of Their Right to Social Identities
Disabled Elderly Woman Detained for Two Months for Her Faith, Authorities Give Family the Runaround
Falun Gong Freed Ms. Mou Yongxia from Illnesses, Persecution Put Her Back in Danger
Harbin Railway Police Actively Persecute Falun Gong Practitioners
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