(Minghui.org)
Name: Hu DongxiaChinese Name: 胡东霞Gender: FemaleAge: 77City: XiangtanProvince: HunanOccupation: retired factory workerDate of Death: February 21, 2026Date of Most Recent Arrest: April 7, 2021Most Recent Place of Detention: N/A
While serving time outside of prison for her faith in Falun Gong, Ms. Hu Dongxia, of Xiangtan City, Hunan Province was forced to report to the authorities twice a day using the app that they installed on her cell phone. They said that they needed to know her every move as a prerequisite to issue her monthly pension of 1,100 yuan.
Ms. Hu’s pension was previously suspended in August 2020 because she was unable to pay back the retirement benefits received between 2007 and 2012, when she was serving a prior 5-year term also for practicing Falun Gong. The retired employee of the Manganese Ore Electromechanical Company sought to reinstate the pension, only to be arrested on April 7, 2021, and sentenced to three years in May 2022. While she was released and allowed to serve time at home, she faced constant surveillance.
The mental pressure took a toll on her health. She became unsteady on her feet and staggered when she walked. Her family was unable to care for her and sent her to a nursing home in 2024. It was unclear whether this happened before or after her three-year term ended in April 2024. Her condition kept worsening at the nursing home, and she became bedridden. She died there on February 21, 2026, at the age of 77.
Ms. Hu’s passing capped her years of persecution for upholding her faith. She took up Falun Gong in September 1996 and soon recovered from her severe heart and kidney diseases. After the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, she was repeatedly arrested and detained for not renouncing her faith. Besides the two prison terms mentioned above, she was also given two years of forced labor. She was brutally tortured during her multiple detentions. Her leg was fractured after she was beaten in the labor camp. While serving the 5-year prison term, she was given a toxic injection that caused her panic attacks.
Leg Broken in Labor Camp
Ms. Hu was arrested at home on April 19, 2004, and put in the Xiangtan City Detention Center. She was given two years of forced labor 37 days later and transferred to the Baimalong Women’s Labor Camp.
At 7 a.m. on December 14, 2004, Ms. Hu yelled “Falun Dafa is good” in protest of the persecution and was tortured by four drug addicts, including Gan Weihong, Feng Yun, Hu Jing, and Zhao Cuiqun, who were assigned to watch her.
They took her to a storage room and wrapped tape around her mouth. She struggled to breathe. They knocked her down and forced her to do a split. They pulled her limbs in four directions (see image below), pressed her head against her legs and inserted steel needles into her fingers. Gan even sat on her left leg and kept giggling.
Torture illustration: pulling in four directions
Ms. Hu’s fingers kept bleeding, and they used a dirty cloth to wipe away the blood. The split torture didn’t stop until 8 a.m. They kicked her in the back and warned her, “This is only the beginning!”
Ms. Hu passed out. When she came to, she saw herself on the back of one of the inmates. They were taking her to the in-house clinic. After they got there, Zhao rubbed her broken left leg back and forth. She screamed in pain and asked to have an X-ray. Doctor Ren said there was no X-ray machine and prescribed her some oral medication and topical cream. Ren then told the four inmates that Ms. Hu also had heart disease and high blood pressure.
Team lead Ouyang Xiu didn’t allow Ms. Hu to call or write her family to tell them about the incident. With a broken leg, she struggled to care for herself.
It wasn’t until March 2005 that the labor camp guards finally took Ms. Hu to a forensic hospital for an X-ray. She was next referred to the Zhuzhou Second Hospital. The doctors asked why she wasn’t brought in earlier, and team lead Fan replied, “She fell and broke her leg.” She corrected Fan and was taken back to the labor camp.
That afternoon, a guard ordered Ms. Hu to write a statement saying that her leg fracture had nothing to do with the labor camp. She refused to comply. Team lead Ouyang warned her not to file any complaint against the labor camp or she’d not be released on parole that day.
Upon returning home, Ms. Hu went to a hospital for an X-ray. The result indicated a separation of 0.7 cm (7 mm) between broken bone fragments (which was considered a significant displacement). She did the Falun Gong exercises and was gradually able to stand up and take steps. She walked with a limp though for the rest of her life.
Sentenced to 5 Years and Given Toxic Injection
Ms. Hu was arrested on July 31, 2007, as she was about to get into a car. The police snatched her key and raided her home. They put her in the Xiangtan City Detention Center. Her family was denied visits.
The Yuhu District Court sentenced Ms. Hu to five years at an unknown time. Presiding judge Wei Wei and prosecutor Zhou Sang signed the verdict.
Ms. Hu was admitted to the Hunan Province Women’s Prison in January 2008. The guards there shocked her with electric batons, forced her to stand all day long with only one hour of sleep and denied her restroom use.
One day division head Zhou Dan, along with Zhou Xiaolan and Tang Ying, took Ms. Hu to the prison hospital to “check her leg and blood pressure.” Doctor Deng, who was also the deputy prison warden, examined her and said she needed an injection to lower her blood pressure. She resisted, but they managed to give her the injection.
While taking a shower in June 2015, Ms. Hu suddenly felt a huge wave of fear and the sound of water caused her to experience palpitations and hallucinations. This episode lasted a whole week and returned in June 2016 and 2017. She suspected her panic attacks and hallucinations were a result of the toxic injection.
Two More Arrests in 2013 and 2014
Ms. Hu was released in July 2012, only to be arrested again on May 9, 2013. The police threatened to smash the door open if she didn’t let them in. They turned her home upside down. Officers Huang Yi and Cheng Like were in charge of the case. She was taken to the Yuhu District Domestic Security Office and later put in a local lockup. She was released on May 24, 2013.
The police broke into Ms. Hu’s home at around 10:30 p.m. on January 15, 2014. They took her to the Heling Police Station for interrogation. A bit past 1 a.m., they took her to the forensic hospital for a physical exam. Her systolic blood pressure was 180 mmHg (when a normal range is 120 or lower). They took her to the Xiangtan Central Hospital two hours later, and her blood pressure shot up to over 200 mmHg. Despite her condition, the police drove her to the Jintangwan Lockup. She was denied admission and taken back to the Heling Police Station. She went on a hunger strike in protest and was released in the early afternoon the next day.
Sentenced to 3 Years for Seeking Pension Reinstatement
On August 11, 2020, Ms. Hu was notified that her pension was to be suspended unless she paid back the benefits issued to her during her 5-year prison term between 2007 and 2012. She sought to reinstate her pension, only to be arrested on April 7, 2021, and sentenced to three years in May 2022. Her health kept declining while serving time outside of prison. She died at a nursing home on February 21, 2026.
Related Article in Chinese:
Related Reports:
Xiangtan City, Hunan Province: At Least Five Still Jailed for Their Faith in Falun Gong
73-Year-Old Woman Sentenced to Three Years for Seeking Justice Over Wrongfully Suspended Pension
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