Zhejiang Woman Dies in Custody after Involuntary Surgery for Alleged Brain Tumor

(Minghui.org) A Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province, resident passed away on June 6, 2021, after being in a coma for over two months following an involuntary brain surgery.

Ms. Shi Mengqiao was arrested on February 12, 2020, for distributing materials about Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999. The Yongkang City Detention Center repeatedly rejected her family’s request to visit her, using the pandemic as an excuse.

Ms. Shi was tried by the Wucheng District Court on July 21, 2020, and sentenced to 18 months with a 20,000-yuan fine on September 27. While she was still awaiting the Jinhua City Intermediate Court to rule on her appeal, the detention center informed her family in late March 2021 that she was diagnosed with a brain tumor and had to be operated on immediately. Suspecting that she was tortured to critical condition instead of really being ill, her family refused to sign the consent for the operation and instead applied for medical parole for her.

The detention center refused to release Ms. Shi and ordered the hospital to operate on her in the middle of the night. She remained in an intensive care unit after the operation.

Ms. Shi’s family filed various complaints against the detention center for the suspected torture of their loved one. The authorities responded that the detention center didn’t violate any law and Ms. Shi’s brain damage was caused by a tumor, although it’s not clear whether any investigation ever took place.

Ms. Shi never woke up after the operation. The hospital informed her family on the evening of June 6 that she had passed away. The detention center refused to provide any information about her and directly took her body from the hospital to the funeral home. It’s not clear whether her family was allowed to see her body at the funeral home.

Similar to Ms. Shi, Mr. Yao Xinren, a Longkou City, Shandong Province resident, underwent a craniotomy in April 2020 to treat an alleged stroke, ten months following his arrest for practicing Falun Gong. Mr. Yao remained in a coma after the operation and was transferred to a senior center without proper medical equipment in February 2021. He died seven days later, at the age of 51.

A Mianyang City, Sichuan Province resident, Ms. Liao Guanghui, has remained in a coma for three months, after she had a craniotomy in March 2021 for allegedly “hitting her head while using the restroom.”

Related reports:

Zhejiang Woman Suffers Alleged “Brain Disease” in Custody, Operated on Without Her Family’s Consent

Zhejiang Woman Tried for Distributing Materials About Her Faith

Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province: Two Residents Sentenced and One Arrested for Their Faith

Perpetrators’ contact information:
Shi Biao (施彪), director of Yongkang City Domestic Security Division: [phone]Lu Jin (吕津), head of Xiangzhu Town Police Station: [phone]Ying Jun (应军), head of Yongkang City 610 Office: [phone]Lou Xiangming (楼向明), deputy head of Jinhua City 610 Office: [phone], [phone], [phone]Zhang Ling (张玲), prosecutor of Wucheng District Procuratorate: [phone]

(More perpetrators’ contact information is available in the original Chinese article.)