(Minghui.org) Falun Gong practitioner Ms. Yang Xiaofeng was illegally arrested by police in the Pinggu District of Beijing on July 20, 2013. She was sent to the Pinggu District Detention Center and released on August 8, 2013.

Personal Account:

My name is Yang Xiaofeng. I am 48 years old, and was very unhealthy before I started practicing Falun Gong. After six months however, I experienced the wonders of Dafa when all my diseases disappeared.

My entire family was enjoying living in harmony when the former head of the Chinese Communist regime, Jiang Zemin, started the unlawful persecution of Falun Gong. I was sent to labor camps three times because I refused to give up my belief. As a result, I also faced repeated detention in brainwashing centers.

My family could not bear the ongoing stress, and eventually kicked me out of the house. Upon being released from my third imprisonment, I had to live with my aunt. I continued in my efforts to distribute truth clarification materials, and was reported to the authorities. At noon on July 12, 2013, local police officer Zhang Daming and his colleagues ransacked my aunt’s house and took my mother and me to the Pinggu Police Station. After an interrogation, they sent us both to Pinggu Detention Center for further persecution.

Torture illustration: Handcuffs and shackles

The guards forced me to wear handcuffs and shackles so that I could not move. I held a hunger strike to protest the brutal mistreatment, and was later sent to Beijing Police Hospital. On the way to the hospital, the police officers cuffed my hands and feet to the railing and insulted me.

In the hospital, the officers employed a torture method called the “airplane,” in which my four limbs were tied-up, and I was suspended in mid-air.

On July 29, 2013, officers from Pinggu Detention Center brought me back from the hospital, but continued their abuse. I refused to wear the prison uniform, so I was placed in handcuffs and the heaviest shackles. I often had to bend over to lessen the noise as I shuffled to the restroom at night, which disturbed everyone in the cell.

I was released from the detention center on August 8, 2013.