(Minghui.org) Police from Mengyang Town, Pengzhou City, Sichuan Province, arrested four locals in nine days in March 2021 for their faith in Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Plainclothes officers followed Ms. Xu Zhiqiong, in her 60s, from Yuanshi Village on the morning of March 9, 2021, then arrested her. They injured Ms. Xu's hands while tying her hands with rope.
At 9:00 a.m. that same day in Mengyang Town Logistics Market, Ms. Qing Liju, 50, from Sanwan Village and Ms. Fu Shunju, in her 70s, from Yuanshi Village were arrested by plainclothes officers while giving away flash drives with information about Falun Gong.
In the Mengyang Town Police Station, the police searched all three women. They also searched their backpacks, cut open their shoes, removed their cloth buttons, and damaged the zippers on their pants. The flash drives and other Falun Gong informational materials they had were confiscated.
The police then ransacked their homes. Dozens of Falun Gong books were confiscated from Ms. Fu.
The women were interrogated separately and forbidden to talk to each other.
Ms. Qing was taken to Xinjin Brainwashing Center, her head covered with a black bag, at around 6:00 p.m. the next day. Ms. Xu and Ms. Fu were released around 7:00 p.m.
The Mengyang police also went to the nearby town of Xiangyang in Guanghan City on the afternoon of March 18 and arrested 69-year-old Mr. Chen Zongguo at his home.
Still mourning the death of Mr. Chen's 99-year-old father a few months before, his mother, 88, was dealt another blow witnessing the police beating her son in their home. She couldn’t eat or sleep for many days following Mr. Chen’s arrest.
Mr. Chen’s wife, in her 60s, now struggles to take care of the family’s crops in their field. Their neighbors' misunderstanding and discrimination have caused her many sleepless nights. She went to the police station to ask where her husband was but was never told.
It is not clear why the Mengyang police traveled out of their own district to arrest Mr. Chen. It appears that he is being held in the new detention facility in Pengzhou City, which has jurisdiction over Mengyang.