Heilongjiang Woman Dies After Two Decades of Incarceration and Harassment

(Minghui.org)

Chinese Name: 孔凡英Gender: FemaleAge: 67City: JiamusiProvince: HeilongjiangOccupation: Linen factory employeeDate of Death: July 10, 2021Date of Most Recent Arrest: November 6, 2013Most Recent Place of Detention: Jiaxi Police Station

Throughout these past 22 years, Ms. Kong Fanying was repeatedly arrested, detained and harassed for upholding her faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been targeted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. 

She moved several times to hide from the police, but they always managed to locate her shortly after and harass her again. The last time the police harassed Ms. Kong, in June 2021, she was incapacitated and unable to talk. The harassment took a toll on her already compromised health. Ms. Kong fell sick soon after and was sent to the hospital on July 8, 2021. She passed away at 8 p.m. on July 10. She was 67.

Even a month after she died, the authorities still called her husband and ordered him to tell her to report to the local residential committee office.

Arrested for Appealing for the Right to Practice Falun Gong

Ms. Kong Fanying, a Jiamusi City, Heilongjiang Province resident, used to work at a local linen factory. After she took up Falun Gong in 1995, she became energetic and considerate. When she finished her own tasks at work, she used her spare time to help her colleagues. When her colleagues were on sick leave, she covered for them without extra pay.

After the communist regime ordered the persecution, Ms. Kong went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong. She was arrested at the Jiamusi Train Station in June 2000 by Ma Deren of the Yama Police Department, who was lying in wait for her. She was detained for 30 days and fined 300 yuan before being released.

Ms. Kong went to Beijing again in October 2000. Although she wasn’t arrested while peacefully protesting at Tiananmen Square, she was arrested half an hour after she got back home. She was interrogated by the police and ordered to write statements promising not to go to Beijing or practice Falun Gong anymore. As she refused, the police took her to a detention center. 

Ms. Kong held a hunger strike to protest the persecution. On the fourth day of her hunger strike, she was taken to a forced labor camp, but the labor camp would not admit her due to her poor health. The police still refused to release Ms. Kong and took her back to the detention center. 

The cell in the detention center was humid and filthy and Ms. Kong developed painfully itchy scabies all over her body. 

In December 2000, Ms. Kong held a hunger strike again and was released on January 2, 2001. She was detained for a total of 81 days. The police attempted to extort 3,000 yuan from her husband. As he had just been laid off and Ms. Kong’s own salary was suspended, he had to borrow 1,800 yuan to pay the police. 

Fifteen days after Ms. Kong returned home, her mother passed away. Still plagued by the severe scabies and unable to sleep at night, she struggled to attend her mother’s funeral. Hours after her mother’s body was cremated, police officer Li Xiaodong and residential committee staff member Yang Laoliu came to harass her again and ordered her to write a statement to renounce Falun Gong. She again refused. Officer Li continued to harass Ms. Kong for many years and also withheld her ID, causing her tremendous inconvenience in her day-to-day affairs.

The Bowl of “Organic” Porridge

Ms. Kong was arrested again in 2002 during a police sweep. The police searched every corner of her home and confiscated some printed Falun Gong information.

At the Jiaxi Police Station, the police took turns interrogating Ms. Kong and ordered her to renounce Falun Gong. When they took her to the detention center, she saw the police beating her husband: two officers were holding his arms behind his back and a third one was choking him. Her husband shouted, “The police are beating people!”

Ms. Kong was taken away before she could say anything. Upon arriving at the detention center, her former heart condition, which had been cured by practicing Falun Gong, relapsed. She was weak and in pain. 

When Ms. Kong held a hunger strike to protest the persecution, the detention center doctor directed four male inmates to force-feed her. The doctor used a metal tool to pry open her mouth, causing several of her teeth to become loose. Her body twitched uncontrollably as they force-fed her. When the doctor pulled the feeding tube out, she collapsed to the ground and threw up everything they fed her. 

Ms. Kong was in critical condition after several days of her hunger strike. Yet the guards still refused to release her and arranged the inmates to take turns monitoring her around the clock in 2-hour shifts. 

Ms. Kong later gave up the hunger strike. On the afternoon she decided to eat, a doctor surnamed Zhang brought her a bowl of porridge. Zhang said he prepared it especially for her and it had organic grains. While Ms. Kong didn’t eat the porridge, the inmate assigned to monitor her ate it all. 

Shortly after, that inmate suffered a mental breakdown. Despite the cold weather, she took off her clothes, leaving only her bra, and then sat in the hallway without moving or saying anything. Only then did Ms. Kong realize that the doctor had put a toxic substance in the porridge.

With her teeth severely damaged from the forced-feedings, Ms. Kong had great difficulty eating. She also kept throwing up during meals. As her condition wasn’t improving, the guards released her when she had been detained for a month. She also had 300 yuan extorted from her.

The police attempted to arrest Ms. Kong again on June 20, 2007, but she refused to open the door for them and they eventually left.

Arrest in 2013

Ms. Kong was reported for distributing Falun Gong materials near a residential committee office on the evening of November 6, 2013. The young man who reported her tried to pull her off her bike three times. After she fell down, he held her clothes and wouldn’t let her go. Ms. Kong suffered a heart attack when the police arrived. Yet they still took her to the Jiaxi Police Station, searched her bag, and interrogated her. The police then took her home to search her place.

After taking Ms. Kong back to the police station, the police forced her to sit on a cold chair against the wall. She developed a kidney condition an hour later and had to use the restroom over ten times that evening. She also experienced severe pain in her back and in her pelvic area. She was unable to sit up and the pain kept her awake all night. 

Early the next morning, while police officer Dou Jinfeng interrogated Ms. Kong, officer Tian Wenbin grabbed her hand and forced her to sign the interrogation record and several other documents, without allowing her to read them.

Ms. Kong suffered persistent pain in her back and was unable to sit or stand. Her family had to pay the police 2,000 yuan in exchange for her release. 

Continued Harassment

The constant arrests, detention, torture, and extortion caused Ms. Kong to live in fear for two decades. She moved several times to hide from the police, but they always found her and went after her again.

On February 24, 2020, Ms. Kong suffered a stroke and was in the intensive care unit for 13 days. She was paralyzed after the stroke and received further therapy at a rehabilitation center for another month. When she was discharged in mid-May, she still relied on a wheelchair to get around and she also had difficulty talking.

In June, secretary Zhao from the residential committee found her husband and ordered him to sign a statement to renounce Falun Gong in her name. Intimidated by the authorities, her husband was forced to sign while an officer surnamed Ma videotaped him. 

Ms. Kong moved again after the incident, only to receive another call from the previous residential committee in August. 

Two police officers and an unidentified woman harassed Ms. Kong again in June 2021. She was in a wheelchair, incapacitated and unable to talk. The police took her photo and left.

Ms. Kong was deeply distressed after the latest harassment. She lost a significant amount of weight and was taken to the hospital on July 8. She passed away two days later. 

Over a month after her passing, a local community worker called her husband again and ordered him to tell her to report to the residential committee.