(Minghui.org) Minghui.org previously reported on the latest persecution of three family members, all residents of Handan City, Hebei Province, for their shared faith in Falun Gong. New information emerged that one of them twice lost consciousness after being beaten by the police.
Mr. Ma Yongxiao, 42, was arrested on February 19, 2025, while visiting his mother-in-law, Ms. Yang Fenglian, 71, together with his wife Ms. Du Likun, 41.
Ms. Du has remained at the Handan City Third Detention Center. Ms. Yang was released under supervised surveillance on March 29, 2025, only to be taken back into custody around May 29 and put in the same detention center as her daughter. Her ex-husband Mr. Du Jiaxiang, who does not practice Falun Gong, was arrested at his home on March 29, 2025 and released around May 1.
Mr. Ma was released on bail around May 2. He and his wife were later issued formal arrest warrants at an unknown time and their cases now rest with the Hanshan District Procuratorate. His mother-in-law Ms. Yang was issued a formal arrest warrant on July 3, 2025, hours after her lawyer submitted a request to drop her case.
Mr. Ma Beaten by Police Repeatedly
Mr. Ma felt a bit under the weather on the day of the arrest and went to bed early. He was sound asleep at 11 p.m. when he felt someone yanking his arms really hard. Still recovering from a left arm injury, he screamed in pain. It turned out that more than 20 officers had just used a locksmith to open his mother-in-law’s door. He demanded to see their IDs. One officer flashed something, and Mr. Ma walked up intending to see what it was. The police grabbed him and pushed him to the ground. They handcuffed him and peppered him with punches and kicks until he went limp and no longer moved.
One officer yelled, “Raid the home! Search for evidence!”
The police beat Mr. Ma again after the raid and tossed him into a cruiser. He had already lost consciousness at that point. When he came to, he found himself in an elevator with his face covered. The police beat him again.
One of them then said, “Let’s stop. We’ve beaten him too hard.”
Another replied, “Well, the higher-ups instructed us to do so!”
The elevator then stopped. The police kept beating Mr. Ma and dragged him outside. He again passed out.
After he came to, he found himself in a torture chamber with his hands cuffed and feet shackled. It was cold, but he was still in his thin pajamas with no shoes. He was confused and lost coordination of his limbs. He began to talk nonsense and exhibited symptoms of a seizure.
He heard an officer comment, “Maybe we arrested the wrong person.” Another replied, “We can’t release him even if it’s the wrong person.”
Mr. Ma was next taken to the police hospital. A doctor there condemned the police for not seeking medical attention for him earlier. The doctor said Mr. Ma was lucky to be still alive after such savage beatings.
Without allowing him to receive further treatment, the police took Mr. Ma to the Handan City Second Detention Center. The guards there kept him handcuffed and shackled. The cuffs and shackles were extremely tight and cut into his flesh. The wounds festered and oozed out blood and pus. The shackles were also very heavy and he couldn’t lift them. Nearly five months later, he still has marks on his wrists.
Mr. Ma’s cellmates asked what crime he had committed that resulted in such torture. He said he was simply practicing Falun Gong and did nothing wrong. The cellmates condemned the police and detention center guards for abusing him, and promised to seek justice for him after they were released.
The guards feared that Mr. Ma might die in their custody and said they’d allow him to do Falun Gong exercises to get better. However, he was unable to lift his arms due to injuries from the beating, much less do any kind of exercises. The police officer in charge of the case eventually released him on bail around May 2, 2025.
This is not the first time that Mr. Ma has been targeted for his faith, which he took up when he was 13 years old. In fall 2009, he was arrested and taken to a brainwashing center. He was drugged there and couldn’t stay awake. He also suffered severe headaches, intermittent coma, convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and bleeding from the ears and nose. His paternal grandfather was so terrified by his arrest and torture that he died while Mr. Ma was still in detention.
Wife and Mother-in-law Filed Complaints Against Perpetrators
Mr. Ma’s wife and mother-in-law were also repeatedly targeted for practicing Falun Gong. They were both arrested on October 1, 2000 for going to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong. Then 16, Ms. Du was shocked with high-voltage electric batons four times, specifically on her inner thighs, armpits, and the back of her head. She was also forced to wear heavy shackles, which severely injured her ankles. Her mother was later given one year of forced labor and brutally tortured as well. The United Nations expressed an urgent concern to the Chinese government in November 2003 about their persecution. See the related reports for the family’s repeated persecution over the years.
Following their latest arrests, Ms. Yang and Ms. Du both filed complaints against the family’s perpetrators in April 2025. They asked to hold accountable those who arrested and tortured them and Mr. Ma, including chief Liu Wenming and captain Lu Yinghai of the Hanshan District Police Department; deputy chief Chen Libin and officer Yin Yuefei of the Hanshan District Police Department; chief of the Kaiyuan Police Station; the Luochengtou Police Station; the Fudong Police Station; director Cui Shumin and section chief Wang Cunyin of the Handan City Second Detention Center.
Related Articles in Chinese:十六岁即遭酷刑折磨 杜丽坤一家三人面临司法迫害
Related Reports:Family of Three Detained for Their Faith—Lawyers Denied Visitation
The United Nations Is Concerned about China's Persecution of Yang Fenglian and Her Daughter Du Likun
Mother and Daughter, Tortured to Near Death for Their Belief, Sue Former Chinese Dictator
Copyright © 1999-2025 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
