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60-Year-Old Woman Dies 19 Days After Being Arrested for Practicing Falun Gong

Sept. 29, 2024 |   By a Minghui correspondent in Hunan Province, China

(Minghui.org)

Name: Wang QingxiangChinese Name: 王清香Gender: FemaleAge: 60City: YuanjiangProvince: HunanOccupation: N/ADate of Death: September 24, 2024Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 5, 2024Most Recent Place of Detention: Yiyang City Detention Center

Despite Ms. Wang Qingxiang’s dangerously high blood pressure, the police still kept her in custody after arresting her on September 5, 2024, for practicing Falun Gong. They eventually released the Yuanjiang City, Hunan Province, resident on September 16 when she suffered a massive stroke that day. She passed away eight days later, on September 24. She was 60 years old.

A group of police officers broke into Ms. Wang’s home on September 4, 2024 and confiscated her Falun Gong books and informational materials. She managed to escape, without being arrested. She returned home hours later and decided to go to the police station the next morning to seek the return of her Falun Gong books. She had just stepped out of her door when she was seized by a group of officers who had come to arrest her. They dragged her into a police car and took her straight to the Yiyang City Detention Center. Yiyang oversees Yuanjiang.

Upon hearing about her arrest, Ms. Wang’s family went to the Yiyang City Police Department to demand her release. They said that since she had a stroke before, she was at a very high risk of having another stroke given her high blood pressure. The receiving officer surnamed Xiong said that they would take her for a physical examination first, and if she was indeed found to be unfit for detention, they would release her. But even after Ms. Wang was found to have a blood pressure systolic pressure of 220 mmHg (when the normal level is 120 mmHg or lower), the police still kept her detained.

Ms. Wang’s family received a call from the police at around 5 p.m. on September 16, urgently asking them to take her back home. Her daughter immediately traveled from Changsha (about 50 miles away) to Yiyang. After obtaining permission from several supervisors, she was finally allowed to see her mother at the Yiyang City Fourth People’s Hospital. Ms. Wang was shackled and being watched by two female officers. She was so weak that she was unsteady while walking. She returned to her daughter’s home at around 10 p.m.

Ms. Wang continued to have slow mobility upon returning home. She had trouble eating and could only drink some soup. On the fourth day, she couldn’t keep her balance even when leaning against the wall. Her daughter called an ambulance and she was taken to the Xiangya Hospital in Changsha. The doctor said she had had a massive stroke and recommended surgery. Fearing that Ms. Wang may not have many days left, her family transferred her to Yuanjiang City Hospital three days later. She passed away two days later on September 24.

Past Persecution

Ms. Wang took up Falun Gong in September 1996. After the Chinese communist regime began persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, she was repeatedly arrested, and served three labor camp terms for upholding her faith.

Ms. Wang went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in July 2000. She was arrested and held at the Yuanjiang City Lockup. Agents from the Yuanjiang City 610 Office later transferred her to the Huangmaozhou Brainwashing Center for further persecution.

Ms. Wang returned to Beijing to appeal in December 2000. She was arrested again and held at the Haidian District Detention Center in Beijing. The guards kicked her in the eyes, hung her up by the wrists, and forced her to hold the martial arts horse stance posture for long hours. She was later given one year at the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp in Zhuzhou City, Hunan Province.

Ms. Wang was arrested again in 2002, by agents from the Yuanjiang City 610 Office, and detained at the Tuanshan Brainwashing Center.

Her next arrest was in early 2004, by officers from the Sanxiangkou Police Station. The police slapped her in the face and subjected her to corporal punishment. In April 2004, she was transferred to the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp to serve a 15-year term. She was forced to work at least eight hours per day without pay.

Ms. Wang was arrested another time on March 8, 2009, for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong, and detained at the Yuanjiang City Detention Center for an unknown amount of time.

For talking to people about Falun Gong, she was arrested weeks later, in May 2009, and her home was ransacked. The police extorted nearly 20,000 yuan from her before releasing her. She was taken back into custody at the Yuanjiang City Detention Center on September 5, 2009, and forced to work at least six hours every day during her 37-day detention.

Ms. Wang was arrested again on May 29, 2012, after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. She was taken to the Baimalong Forced Labor Camp to serve a third term and forced to take nerve-damaging drugs.