(Minghui.org) A 72-year-old woman in Shanghai was given unknown drugs hours before she was released on bail. Not long after she returned home, Ms. Zhou Xianwen began to experience difficulty breathing, had blisters on her calves, and developed generalized edema.
Ms. Zhou was arrested twice in 2019, on February 22 and June 24, respectively, for her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
She had her home ransacked during the first arrest and was detained for a month at Zhangjiang Detention Center. The police also held her at the same detention center following her second arrest. As a result of repeated interrogation, coercion, and other abuses, she suffered a heart condition after more than two months of detention and was unable to sleep. She also had high blood pressure and fainted a few times.
Two hours before she was released on bail on September 23, the police restrained Ms. Zhou on a bed and forcibly administered IV drips. When Ms. Zhou asked what drug they were giving her, the officers remained silent.
Upon returning home, Ms. Zhou felt discomfort all over her body, no matter whether she was standing or lying down. She had difficulty breathing and had the sensation that she could stop breathing at any time. She was out of breath even after even slight movement, such as opening the door, answering the phone, or using the restroom. Meanwhile, she felt that her brain went blank. She was in a delirious state and couldn’t organize her speech. Sometimes she couldn’t fall asleep the entire night. She lost her appetite and didn’t want to move. Only then, did she realize that the police had injected her with toxic drugs.
Ms. Zhou resumed doing the Falun Gong exercises. After two months of intensively doing the meditation and standing exercises, her condition was alleviated a little. But meanwhile, she also developed whole-body edema, even her eyelids became swollen. She couldn’t squat or bend over. Her body was rigid and she felt like a puppet while walking.
Not long after, she began to have many blisters on her calves. Fluids, blood, and pus came out after the blisters broke or from under the scars. She experienced excruciating pain in her legs, as if they were falling off. The condition still persists at the time of writing.
Four police officers are staying outside of Ms. Zhou’s home around the clock and monitor her daily life. Staff from the residential committee also stop by to harass her once in a while.
A year after Ms. Zhou’s release, the police submitted her case to the Pudongxin District Procuratorate. She hired a lawyer after she began experiencing the above symptoms. On November 19, her lawyer went to the procuratorate and showed photos of her legs to the prosecutor. The lawyer reported that the prosecutor has agreed to dismiss her case after seeing the photos.
Related reports:
Arrested Nine Times for Her Faith, 72-Year-Old Woman Faces Prosecution
Ms. Zhou Xianwen Files Letters of Complaint to the Local Court for Illegal Detention
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Category: Accounts of Persecution
