(Minghui.org)
Name: Cao AilanChinese Name: 曹爱兰Gender: FemaleAge: 72City: NanyangProvince: HenanOccupation: Retired Nanyang Oilfield employeeDate of Death: May 20, 2026Date of Most Recent Arrest: August 30, 2019Most Recent Place of Detention: Henan Province Women’s Prison
A 73-year-old woman in Nanyang City, Henan Province, died on May 20, 2026, after enduring years of persecution for practicing Falun Gong.
Ms. Cao Ailan, born in March 1953, was first arrested on July 20, 1999, the day when the Chinese Communist Party formally started the persecution of Falun Gong. Luo Yuekui and Ren Yizheng, both officials at her workplace, Nanyang Oilfield, detained her for eight days. They seized her again on February 22, 2001, and held her in a brainwashing center for 99 days.
Shortly after she was released on May 31, 2001, she was arrested again for distributing Falun Gong materials and sentenced to five years in Henan Province Women’s Prison on July 29, 2001. She was released on July 28, 2005, only to be arrested again on April 28, 2008. This time, she was sentenced in October 2008, to three years in the same Henan Province Women’s Prison. Ms. Cao was released on April 28, 2011.
She was arrested again on August 30, 2019, and sentenced to eight years with a 30,000-yuan fine in March 2021. In 2025 while serving time in the Henan Province Women’s Prison, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She had a mastectomy and chemotherapy in the prison hospital.
Because Ms. Cao had become so weak, the prison decided to release her on medical parole. The Xinhua Justice Bureau, Shifan Justice Bureau, and Longwangmiao Community, where she had lived, refused to send someone pick her up. The prison eventually managed to have Penyao Community officials pick her up.
Penyao Community officials forced Ms. Cao’s family to rent an apartment in a location they approved of, and she moved in on February 2, 2026. Community workers continued to harass her, and she died on May 20, 2026.
Related Reports:
Once Imprisoned for Eight Years, 68-year-old Woman Gets Eight More Years for Her Faith
Nanyang City, Henan Province: 14 Practitioners Targeted in Mass Arrest Sentenced to 2-9 Years
Nanyang City, Henan Province: 32 Falun Gong Practitioners Arrested in Two Days
Copyright © 1999-2026 Minghui.org. All rights reserved.
