(Minghui.org) The Minghui.org website recently confirmed that a 57-year-old Dongying City, Shandong Province resident became bedridden after she was harassed in the summer of 2023 for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Li Jifang was harassed by two officers from the Binhai Police Station last summer. The mental distress worsened her dry mouth symptoms which she had developed during a previous detention for practicing Falun Gong. She later became bedridden as a result of some other unknown medical conditions. As her husband struggles with a mental illness, she moved in with her mother for the latter to take care of her. Unable to find Ms. Li at her own home, the police kept harassing her mother and demanded to see her.
Persecution of Loved Ones
Ms. Li used to work for a property management company, and took up Falun Gong in 1998. Her mother, older sister, younger brother, and his wife also joined her in the practice. When the persecution started a year later, they were all targeted for their shared faith.
Ms. Li’s mother, Ms. Ye Kangfen, 83, is often harassed at home by the police, community workers, and officers from her late husband’s workplace.
Ms. Li’s sister, Ms. Li Cuie, went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in the early years of the persecution and was detained in Beijing for a year. She was later given three years of forced labor for distributing Falun Gong materials. She was also held in a brainwashing center and had her salary and pension suspended.
Ms. Li’s brother, Mr. Li Jiwei, was given two labor camp terms totaling six years. He was fired by his workplace. His wife was also detained in 2011.
Ms. Li’s Own Persecution
Ms. Li was forced to live away from home in the early years of the persecution, to hide from the police, but was still arrested. During the time she was in custody, her son, who was about seven years old, her elderly and ailing mother-in-law, and her mentally ill husband were left in a dire situation.
Ms. Li was arrested again in 2005 and held in a brainwashing center.
Her next arrest was in March 2016, for filing a criminal complaint against Jiang Zemin, the former chairman of the Chinese communist regime who ordered the persecution. She developed dry mouth during the two-week detention. Shortly after being released, she heard that the authorities were attempting to take her to a brainwashing center. She was forced to live away from home for four months to avoid the persecution.
An officer of the Shengnan Residential Committee called Ms. Li on June 21, 2017 and questioned her as to whether she still practiced Falun Gong. She said yes. The police called her again in the afternoon, but she wasn’t home. When she returned the next morning, she was stopped by a police officer and a person from her workplace outside of her apartment, who again questioned her about whether she still practiced Falun Gong.
On April 26, 2018, Ms. Li, who had been retired for a year, received a call from a local community secretary, who said that she would come the next day to check Ms. Li’s natural gas valve. The secretary came with a male director the next day. They didn’t mention anything about checking the valve, but asked her about her practicing Falun Gong and threatened her not to go out to distribute Falun Gong materials.
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