(Minghui.org) Ms. Huo Runzhi was incoherent and covered in bruises when she was driven home in a prison ambulance. She screamed in pain every day and passed away less than two months later.

The Nong’an County resident was arrested in March 2016 for refusing to renounce Falun Gong, a spiritual discipline being persecuted by the Chinese communist regime. She was soon sentenced to three years in Jilin Province Women’s Prison.

Ms. Huo was subjected to various forms of physical and mental abuse during her imprisonment. She was beaten so badly that she sustained injuries all over her body, and all her teeth became loose. She also developed high blood pressure and was later diagnosed with colon cancer.

Ms. Huo shortly before her death

Injuries to her ankles

The prison did not inform Ms. Huo’s family of her colon cancer diagnosis until late April 2017. Her loved ones immediately requested her release, to no avail.

Ms. Huo’s son visited her in prison several weeks later and was asked to file a medical parole request on his mother’s behalf. A guard told him that they didn’t want to see his mother die in prison.

The parole request came with a condition, however: Ms. Huo must sign statements promising to renounce Falun Gong. When she refused to give her signature, the guards grabbed her hand and forcibly scribbled her name on the document.

Ms. Huo was driven home on August 16 and died on November 14. She was 72.

Her death capped a decades-long ordeal for her faith. Prior to her latest arrest, she had been detained numerous times and once given 15 months of forced labor.