7/12/01 (Falun Dafa Information Center) - A woman has died in the Xilin Detention Center after being shackled to a torture device for eight days and nights.

Ms. Zhou Fenglin, age 32, was at home with her young son on the night of December 27, 2000 when witnesses say five or six police broke into her house and dragged her out by the hair. Her five-year-old son was left alone at home.

Zhou, a Falun Dafa practitioner from the Qingtan District of Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, was taken to the Xilin Detention Center. In the detention center, reliable sources say she was forced to do hard labor during the day and was deprived of sleep at night in an effort to make her renounce her practice of Falun Dafa. However, sources say Zhou would not give in.

Consequently, police resorted to harsher methods to break her will. At one point at the beginning of this year, witnesses say Zhou was chained hanging up by the wrists for ten full nights. She was then handcuffed to a torture device known as the "Forbidden Board." This is a torture device that it is usually used for no more than several hours at a stretch.

Witnesses say that after eight full days and nights of being subjected to this torture device, Zhou's cellmates realized that she was not going to be able to endure it any longer. They desperately rang the bell to call for help, but the guards ignored them. She died on the board shortly thereafter.

Zhou is survived by her husband Yang Canrong, also a practitioner of Falun Gong, and their five year-old son. Her husband was detained and sentenced to three years in a labor camp prior to her death. At one point, Zhou's sister-in-law brought their son to the police station to ask about her situation, but she was also detained. It was reported that the terrified little boy was also detained, but he is now missing.

Family and friends have expressed extreme concern for this child. Evidence shows that children are not spared from the persecution against Falun Gong practitioners. In November of last year, reports revealed that 27 year-old Wang Lixuan and her infant son Meng Hao died together in Beijing's notorious Tuanhe Labor Reeducation Camp. Wang Lixuan's neck was broken. The coroner's report indicated that Meng Hao, who was not even eight months old, had deep wounds on his ankles, two dark purple wounds on his head, and his nose was filled with blood.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT THE FALUN DAFA INFORMATION CENTER- Contacts: Gail Rachlin 212-501-8080, Erping Zhang 917-337-5877, Adam Montanaro 917-405-4507, or Feng Yuan 646-523-5676. Email: faluninfoctr@nycmail.com, Website: http://www.faluninfo.net/