(Minghui.org)
Name: Tang PeihengChinese Name: 唐佩恒Gender: FemaleAge: 75City: XiangtanProvince: HunanOccupation: Retired employee of a motor factoryDate of Death: November 14, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 19, 2017Most Recent Place of Detention: Majiahe Detention Center
For upholding her faith in Falun Gong after the Chinese communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999, Ms. Tang Peiheng, of Xiangtan City, Hunan Province, suffered repeated arrests, detention and torture. In addition to the physical and mental abuse, she also had her pension suspended. The relentless persecution eventually claimed her life on November 14, 2024. She was 75.
Initial Arrest and Drug Rehab Center Detention
Ms. Tang, a retired employee of the Xiangtan Motor Factory, began to practice Falun Gong in 1996. Many of her ailments soon disappeared.
After the onset of the persecution in 1999, the local police constantly harassed Ms. Tang and ordered her to turn in her Falun Gong books. Some of the Falun Gong practitioners in her area were arrested and held in detention centers or psychiatric hospitals. Ms. Tang heard that a recent college graduate who had just begun working in her factory was given toxic injections in a psychiatric hospital. The beautiful new hire suffered systemic edema. She also became dull and walked unsteadily.
To appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong, Ms. Tang and several practitioners took the train to Beijing on February 14, 2000. They were arrested on Tiananmen Square and taken to the Hunan Liaison Office in Beijing. The Xiangtan police soon brought them back and put them in a drug rehab center.
Under orders from the center director, the drug addicts savagely beat the practitioners. Ms. Tang was hit on her right eye by a young woman in her early 20s. The woman also kicked her in the face and broke her nose. Blood gushed out. Her face became severely swollen and she could barely open her eyes. After two weeks of detention, Ms. Tang held a hunger strike to protest the persecution and was released four days later.
Upon returning home, she learned from her family that the police and 610 Office agents had lied to her family, telling them that she had abandoned them as she only cared about Falun Gong. Her family and friends were then urged to go to the drug rehab center to persuade her to renounce her faith.
Two More Arrests and Torture in Detention
Ms. Tang was arrested again in early July 2000 and taken to the Diancheng Police Station. The next day, two young men hit her in the chest and slapped her face. She urged them not to persecute innocent Falun Gong practitioners like her, but to no avail.
After her husband found out about her beatings, he went to the police chief’s home to seek justice. To avoid public exposure, the police released Ms. Tang, but arranged for someone to stay outside of her home every day to monitor her. They also harassed her husband over the phone and threatened to force his workplace to fire him. The police and 610 Office agents also harassed Ms. Tang at home and threatened her with her son’s, husband’s, and nephew’s jobs and promotion. They even mentioned that they themselves and her manager at work would be punished if she was arrested again for going to Beijing to appeal.
Undeterred, Ms. Tang arrived in Beijing on December 24, 2000 to appeal again. She was arrested on Tiananmen Square on December 26 and beaten by the police. She had severe swelling on her forehead, left hand and wrist, and right hand. In just two minutes, the police filled a van of practitioners coming from around the country to appeal.
Ms. Tang was first taken to the Guangchang Police Station, forced to turn in all the cash she had, and then taken to the Miyun Detention Center in the suburbs. Armed police watched the practitioners closely. Each practitioner was given a number and had their photos taken and fingerprints collected. The police also stripped searched the practitioners.
Ms. Tang was kicked and stomped by a man in his 40s. He also repeatedly struck her in the face with a shoe. She recalled, “My head swayed from side to side like a rattle drum. He beat me nearly 50 times. Then he kicked me in the chest and lower abdomen. I was suffocating and had extreme pain around my liver. I couldn’t stand and fell against the door. He ordered me to stand up and lift my arms. Then he stepped on my toes. But no matter how hard he beat me, I didn’t give in.
“Another officer beat me with a baton. By the time I was taken to a detention cell, my body was covered with bruises from head to toe. Another practitioner, a journalist from Jiangxi Province, had even more severe injuries than me.
“The next morning, they gave us something as dark as mud to eat. Those of us who refused to report our names were transferred to a bigger cell [Note: because of the CCP’s policy of implication, many Falun Gong practitioners refused to give their names in order to protect family members, colleagues, and friends]. Some practitioners were already there. A young woman was taken away around December 29. Four days later, on December 31, we were woken up before dawn and ordered to get onto a bus. Once full, the bus headed to Tianjin. The highway was closed to regular traffic. More cars filled with arrested practitioners joined the bus. The convoy heading north was so long that I couldn’t see the end.
“After arriving in Liaoning Province, the convoy split up – some went to Shenyang and some to Jinzhou. I was taken to the Jinzhou City First Detention Center. The next day (January 1, 2001), two police officers came and took me to a very dark room. While restraining me in a metal chair, they handcuffed me and pulled my arms up over my head to my back. After pressing my left hand against the back of the chair for a while, they pulled my arms back to my front. My arms kept shaking uncontrollably.
“The detention center guards didn’t allow us to do the Falun Gong exercises. Once I was caught while doing the exercises. A guard hit my hands with his shoe. He also twisted my right hand so hard that he fractured my wrist. The tendon on my right thumb was also broken. Both of my hands were severely swollen; my fingers were as thick as carrots and I couldn’t move or make a fist. I had to rely on other practitioners’ help when using the restroom.
“Two months later, the police threatened to take us to a place where we would never be freed. The detention center guards added that they could also kill us or sell us to someone. Unable to bear the pressure, one practitioner revealed her name and called her family. She also told her husband about my situation, who then informed my husband. Both husbands soon came to pick us up. But the detention center refused to release us. Eventually, the police and 610 Office in Xiangtan came and took us to the Xiangtan City Detention Center. After a brief detention, I was given a term at the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp.
Sentenced to Three Years
Ms. Tang and another practitioner, Ms. Tao Shuyuan, went to the hospital to visit a friend on December 19, 2008. As soon as they left the hospital, several plainclothes officers emerged from a car and pushed them into the car. They were taken to the Xiaotang Road Police Station. Ms. Tang’s purse was taken away and the 350 yuan cash in it was confiscated. Upon finding her name and address, the police ransacked her and her son’s homes. Ms. Tang’s Falun Gong books, portrait of Falun Gong’s founder, media player, cell phone, mp3 player, charger, and some DVDs were taken away.
Both Ms. Tang and Ms. Tao were detained at the Xiangtan Detention Center, where they were secretly tried by the local court. During the proceedings, an officer hit her on the chest so hard that she felt tightness in her chest. Both she and Ms. Tao were sentenced to three years and were not allowed to appeal.
After they were taken to the Changsha Women’s Prison, the guards strip-searched the women. The comforter and clothes they brought with them were cut into pieces. Ms. Tang was held in a cell in the Sixth Division and watched by three inmates. She was forced to stand for 18 to 20 hours a day, with three restroom breaks. She was allowed to drink water three times a day and she had to remain standing while having meals. In addition to the standing torture, she was deprived of sleep.
Between December 2009 and January 2010, Ms. Tang was forced to stand for nearly 60 days. Her body became extremely swollen and her feet could barely fit into her shoes. Her lower body felt as cold as ice. Sometimes she felt like there were countless ants crawling on her skin or as if she was being stabbed with countless needles. Eventually, her upper body also swelled up. Her entire body became as stiff as a piece of wood; she was unable to squat or bend over; even wiggling her fingers was difficult; the only part she could move was her head. While enduring the unspeakable pain, Ms. Tang was still forced to watch propaganda videos demonizing Falun Gong played at maximum volume.
After the torture session was over, the guards began to arrange Ms. Tang to work long hours every day without pay, while still forcing her to watch propaganda videos.
Ms. Tang was deeply traumatized when she was released from the prison three years later. She resumed practicing Falun Gong and gradually recovered.
Last Arrest and Ultimate Death
Ms. Tang’s last arrest was on April 19, 2017, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong near the Xiangtan Steel Company. She was taken to the Majiahe Lockup and then transferred to the Majiahe Detention Center on May 4, 2017.
In addition to the arrests, detention and torture, Ms. Tang also had her pension suspended. Her husband was forced to divorce her. Struggling to make ends meet while still facing non-stop harassment by the police, she passed away on November 14, 2024.
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