(Minghui.org) Sun Tongmei, 70, and her sister, Sun Tonge, 55, are Falun Gong practitioners from the New District of Tahe County, Daxinganling City, Heilongjiang Province.

After Sun Tongmei began practicing Falun Gong in 1997, she strictly followed the Fa's principles, became more responsible at her job, and was named as the People's Representative of Tahe County, and an Outstanding Neighborhood Committee director.

Her sister, Sun Tonge, began practicing Falun Gong on July 20, 1999, the same day that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) launched its persecution of the practice. Officers from Tahe County Police Department went to the practice site to harass practitioners, and took their audio player and Falun Gong brochures.

During the 13 years that the CCP has persecuted Falun Gong, the two sisters have endured harassment, monitoring, home ransacking, having their belongings taken, arrests, imprisonment, involuntary homelessness, torture in forced labor camps, as well as other mistreatment.

Seized and Detained for Trying to Go to Beijing to Appeal for Dafa

Sun Tongmei and Sun Tonge managed to slip away from local police supervision and went to the Targen Railway Station on July 24, 1999. They boarded a train heading for Beijing. They intended to go to Beijing to clarify the truth about Falun Gong and the persecution. However, they were forced to leave the train halfway there.

In October 1999, when Sun Tongmei went to Beijing to appeal once again, she was arrested and taken first to Tiananmen Police Station, then to Beijing Fengtai Stadium. She was ultimately detained in Tahe Detention Center for 41 days.

The third time Sun Tongmei went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong was on December 14, 2000. She was arrested on the train, taken back to Tahe, and held in the Tahe County Detention Center for four and a half months.

Sun Tonge was restrained at the railway station when she tried to go to Beijing to appeal a second time.

Sun Tongmei's Husband Died as a Result of Persecution

Mr. Wang Xueqin, Sun Tongmei's husband, was partially paralyzed due to a stroke he had before he began practicing Falun Gong. In 1997, Mr. Wang recovered after only one week practicing of Falun Gong, and he felt very light when he walked. He felt so happy that he kept telling people "Falun Gong is miraculous!"

Ms. Sun Tongmei's husband, Mr. Wang Xueqin

After the CCP began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, Mr. Wang strongly supported his wife Sun Tongmei's decision to go appeal in Beijing. After she was taken to the Tahe County Detention Center, Mr. Wang repeatedly went to the detention center to request her release. He told the the detention center director, "Let her go home! I'll stay here in her place!"

Because Ms. Sun Tongmei was jailed, supervised, harassed, and had funds extorted from her many times, Mr. Wang also suffered both spiritually and physically. In May 2001, due to the extreme pressure the couple was under, he passed away. He was only 65 years old.

Sisters Arrested and Their House Searched

On the morning of July 15, 2005, more than ten officers broke into the sisters' home. The intruders included agents from the Tahe 610 Office, Shi Wei, Wang Cunli, and officers Lin Chunqing and Guo Lianfu from the police department, along with others from the Xinjian Police Station. They searched from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., confiscated Dafa books, Falun Gong informational materials, and some electric appliances.

The police held the two practitioners in the Tahe Detention Center for 15 days, and extorted 2000 yuan from each of them. Only 112 days after they returned home, they were arrested again by the officers from the Tahe County Police Department and taken back to the Tahe Detention Center. They were sentenced to three years of forced labor.

After they were released, the sisters left Tahe County to avoid further persecution. During that time, agents from the Tahe County 610 Office, police department, and Xinjian Police Station tried every means to find them, including staying and watching their home from their neighbor's home.

After the sisters returned to Tahe County, the police repeatedly harassed them and pressured them to write a guarantee statement renouncing their faith in Falun Dafa.

Xiao Lianbin, the Party secretary of the Xinjian Police Station, and Wang Guoyi, the neighborhood police officer, broke into the sisters' home in May 2010, attempting to force them to renounce Falun Dafa. Xiao Lianbin even held Sun Tongmei's hand to force her give her fingerprints.

Sisters Sentenced to Three Years of Forced Labor

In May 2010, the sisters were arrested by officers from the Domestic Security Division in Tahe County and sentenced to three years of forced labor. They were allowed to serve their terms under house arrest. They are scheduled to be released in May 2013.

The CCP Persecutes Practitioners Financially

During the 13 years that the Chinese Communist regime has persecuted Falun Gong, Sun Tongmei has had funds extorted from her three times, totaling 9000 yuan.

- In 1999 Tahe Police Department demanded 5000 yuan.
- On December 14, 2001, Tahe Police Department demanded 2000 yuan.
- On July 15, 2005, Xu Feng, an officer from the Tahe County Domestic Security Division extorted 2000 yuan from her.

Sun Tonge had 2000 yuan extorted from her by the Tahe County Police Department in 2005. Sun Tongmei and her family members repeatedly went to the Tahe County Police Department and the Domestic Security Division to get the money back. They eventually got 5000 yuan back, but the police had spent the other 4000 yuan.

Sun Tongmei was the Xinjian Neighborhood Committee Director and the People's Representative of Tahe County. In October 1999, Tahe TV announced on prime-time news that her job as director and her title as the People's Representative had been taken away.

When Sun Tongmei went to Beijing to appeal in October 1999, Han Yuqing, a Tahe County Police Department officer, took her ID card. Without her ID, Ms. Sun wasn't able to file for her retirement until recently. She has survived on the "Will Fee" money left by her deceased husband, which amounts to only 319 yuan per month. She is mainly supported by her sister.

Sisters Still Harassed and Monitored

After all these years, the Xinjian Police Station, the police department, and the Domestic Security Division in Tahe County are still harassing and monitoring the two sisters. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the Tahe Police Department searched everywhere to harass and monitor them.

After years of intense pressure from the regime and living in constant fear, Sun Tonge's husband, Li He, severely depressed, passed away on November 15, 2012. He was only 56 years old.