(Minghui.org)
Name: Li MeiyingChinese Name: 李梅英Gender: FemaleAge: UnknownCity: YueyangProvince: HunanOccupation: UnknownDate of Death: June 2017Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 11, 2011Most Recent Place of Detention: Cengshan Police Station
Name: Luo JichuanChinese Name: 罗继川Gender: MaleAge: 84City: YueyangProvince: HunanOccupation: High school teacher and government officialDate of Death: May 5, 2023Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 11, 2011Most Recent Place of Detention: Cengshan Police Station
An elderly couple in Yueyang City, Hunan Province died six years apart after suffering endless persecution for their shared faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999.
Ms. Li Meiying and her husband Mr. Luo Jichuan (originally a high school teacher and later worked as an official at the government-owned Qianlianghu Town Tile Factory) both took up Falun Gong in 1997 and became better people. They held firm to their faith after the persecution began two years later and were repeatedly arrested. Following an arrest in 2000, Mr. Luo was hung up and burned with two hot screwdrivers on the stomach, chest, and back. He had 48 burn marks and sustained severe injuries. After another arrest in 2001, he was given one and a half years of forced labor.
Ms. Li developed insomnia as a result of the persecution. She died in June 2017. Mr. Luo died on May 5, 2023, at the age of 84. He lived in poverty during his final 15 years as the authorities suspended his pension starting in 2008 and never reinstated it (the total forfeited amount was about 600,000 yuan).
Mr. Luo and Ms. Li went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong in December 1999. They were arrested on the way there and held at the local Hubin Lockup for one month. Mr. Luo’s pay was suspended for one month.
More than eight agents, including Yu Zhihe, from the Cengshan Police Station in Junshan District, broke into Mr. Luo’s home in June 2000. He tried to stop them from seizing his Falun Gong books. The police put him in a choke hold, almost suffocating him.
Mr. Luo and Ms. Li were arrested in November 2000, after they were spotted putting up self-adhesive stickers bearing Falun Gong information. The couple were taken to the Cengshan Police Station. Officers Yu and Zhao Wenhua stripped Mr. Luo, then 62, to his underwear and hung him up. They then heated two screwdrivers on an electric stove and pressed them on Mr. Luo’s chest, abdomen and back, leaving 48 burn marks. He and his wife were later released after paying 1,000 yuan.
Mr. Luo was arrested again in February 2001 and taken to a local detention center. Three months later, he was admitted to the Xinkaipu Labor Camp to serve a 1.5-year term. Ms. Li, while not arrested at the time, saw her pay suspended for three months.
The police raided the couple’s home again in January 2003, confiscating their Falun Gong books and newly purchased color TV. Ms. Li was arrested and held at the Yueyang City Detention Center for three months. The police had intended to give her a forced labor term, but gave up after the local labor camp refused to admit her due to her high blood pressure. She was released after being forced to pay 2,000 yuan. Officers Zhao and Li Qiliang also went to the Qianlianghu Town Tile Factory and forced its finance department to transfer 500 yuan from Mr. Luo’s pension account to them.
Mr. Luo was arrested in May 2008 and detained for ten days. His home was also ransacked with his Falun Gong informational materials seized. Chen Ailiang, the head of the Junshan District 610 Office, instructed the Qianlianghu Town Tile Factory to suspend his pension.
About eight officers from the Cengshan Police Station broke into the couple’s home on September 8, 2011 and arrested them. Ms. Li’s then-80-year-old mother, who lived with her, was terrified. The couple were later forced to press their fingerprints on a pre-prepared statement to renounce Falun Gong before being released.
The couple’s home was raided again on September 12, 2016, by Li Xudong (director of the Qianlianghu Town Justice Bureau), Lei Lijun (security director of Yayuan Community Committee), Yan Dingji (security director of Chaoyang Street Committee), Yang Wenhao (security director of Baihua Community Committee), and two others with unknown identities.
Two officers from the Qianlianghu Town Police Station harassed Mr. Luo and Ms. Li at home on June 8, 2017. As a result of the frequent home raids by the authorities, Ms. Li was unable to cope and developed insomnia. She even feared sleeping at her own home. She died weeks later in June 2017.
While still mourning Ms. Li’s passing, Mr. Luo continued to face harassment. The police raided his home again on October 21, 2017. More than ten people, including officers from the Qianlianghu Town Police Station and staffers from the local street committees, broke into his home on the night of May 12, 2018. Without showing any search warrants, they confiscated his Falun Gong books and other valuables.
The aforementioned security director Li and secretary Yang harassed Mr. Luo at home on November 1, 2019 and took his pictures against his will. His health kept declining and he died on May 5, 2023.
Pensions Withheld from Falun Gong Practitioners Who Refused to Renounce Their Belief