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NEW
YORK (FDI) — According to a firsthand account received from China on August
20th, 2003, a Falun Gong practitioner was abducted and severely beaten by police
with a wooden rod while she was six months pregnant.
Photographs
taken of the woman (whose identity has been withheld for her immediate protection)
following her release clearly show that she was severely beaten on the stomach,
back and legs.
According
to the victim, police kidnapped her and other Falun Gong practitioners from
a friend’s home and detained them in a local police station. “They jumped
on me and again beat me with the stick, while grabbing my hair and punching
my face,” said the woman. “My face and mouth were covered in bruises and blood,
I had loose teeth, and my clothes were bloodstained.”
Prior
to her release, police extorted 3,000 Yuan in bail money from the woman’s
husband. (The average monthly income of a Chinese worker is about 500 Yuan a
month.)
Expecting
Mothers Not Spared Violence, Torture in Persecution of Falun Gong
In
recent months other reports have surfaced of pregnant Falun Gong practitioners
being beaten while in police custody, resulting in the death of both mother
and unborn child in some cases.
On
November 22nd, 2002, Ms. Luo Zhixiang was arrested by Tianhe District “610 Office”
(about) authorities
from her hometown of Guangzhou City in Guangdong Province. Ms. Luo was sent
to a brainwashing class in the Huangpu Drug Rehabilitation Center. After going
on a 7 day hunger strike, it was discovered that Ms. Luo was 3 months pregnant
and she was transferred to the Tianhe Traditional Medicine Hospital. It was
under suspicious circumstances on December 4th, 2002 at Tianhe Hospital that
Ms. Luo “fell” to her death from the 3rd floor, sustaining a fatal head injury.
More
recently in May 2003, a 35 year-old resident of Qi County in Tianjin was arrested
by Tianjin police despite the fact that she was found to be 3 months pregnant.
After nearly six months of abuse in custody, she was sent home before the birth
of her baby was due. However, the baby was born dead and the practitioner was
returned to police custody within 20 days.
Posting date: 17/Sep/2003
Original article date: 16/Sep/2003
Category: News from China
