(Minghui.org) A mentally healthy 90-year-old woman in Mianyang City, Sichuan Province was involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital in June 2025 by her own children.
Ms. Xu Deyu was put through such an ordeal because her son, Gao Jian, and her daughter, Gao Huiping, feared further implication because of her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. Her son in particular lost his job at least twice after she refused to renounce her faith.
The Jiangyou City Third People’s Hospital housed Ms. Xu with three male patients in the same ward, which had only one bathroom. The male patients ate their own excretion after bowel movements. Two of them later died and two new patients were brought in.
The hospital refused to discharge Ms. Xu unless her son gave permission. They even ignored her local street committee and police’s request to free her.
Ms. Xu, who retired from the Mianyang Silk Factory, took up Falun Gong in January 1999 and soon recovered from her numerous diseases. After the persecution began months later, she held firm to her faith and was repeatedly targeted. She was arrested on September 30, 2003, while visiting a friend. Her home was raided with her Falun Gong books, informational materials, two CD burners, one radio, pillows, and hammocks confiscated. At 2 a.m. the following morning, she was taken to the Mianyang Detention Center.
Ms. Xu was given one year of forced labor four months later, and she was allowed to serve time at home due to health reasons.
One day in late October 2004, Ms. Xu and three other Falun Gong practitioners were arrested after being reported for talking to people about Falun Gong. They were interrogated at the Xinzao Police Station from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and then taken to the Mianyang City Police Department. The latter agency dispatched officers to raid their homes. Ms. Xu had her DVD player, three music players, and some Falun Gong books and materials confiscated. A bit after 4 a.m. the next day, the four of them were taken to the Mianyang City Detention Center.
Because of her age and health condition, Ms. Xu was released one month later while the other three practitioners were later given forced labor or prison terms.
Ms. Xu was buying groceries at around 9 a.m. on June 21, 2006, when officer Gao Yinjun, who had been following her, grabbed her and opened her bag. He seized the two Falun Gong books and brochures that she had in there. He took her to the Gongqu Police Station and interrogated her there until 5 p.m. Ms. Xu was next taken to a detention center and held for 15 days.
About 5-6 officers broke into Ms. Xu’s home at around 9 p.m. on December 3, 2007. They confiscated some Falun Gong books and materials and took her to the Xishan Police Station. The police had raided a Falun Gong materials production site early on, and they questioned Ms. Xu if she knew anything about it. She remained silent, and they pushed her around and threatened to sentence her to ten years.
At around midnight, the police took Ms. Xu to a detention center. The guards there handcuffed and shackled her every day. Her blood pressure shot up, and she was released six weeks later after posting a 3,000-yuan bond.
The police and procuratorate staffers kept harassing Ms. Xu at home and ordered her to admit that she had led the police to that material production site when that was not the case. To avoid further persecution, she went into hiding and didn’t return home until a year later.
Ms. Xu was arrested again at an unknown time and sentenced to three years by the Santai County Court. Santai is under the administration of Mianyang City. On July 22, 2009, Ms. Xu was admitted to the Sichuan Province Women’s Prison located in Jianyang City. Upon admission, she was body searched and put under around-the-clock surveillance. The inmates assigned to monitor her were drug dealers and murderers. They searched her pillow case, clothes pockets, and under the bed from time to time to see if she was hiding any Falun Gong materials. They also forced her to listen to propaganda smearing Falun Gong.
Ms. Xu’s home was also raided countless times over the years, and the police never issued any list of confiscated items. Her two children were implicated and turned against her. They eventually put her in the mental hospital.
Practitioners from Mianyang, Sichuan Province Persecuted in 2011