(Minghui.org) A 70-year-old Shanghai resident went missing on March 1, 2019. Her family later discovered she had been arrested for talking to people about Falun Gong, a mind-body discipline that has been persecuted by the communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Yao Juying visited a former neighbor on February 24, 2019, and spoke to her about Falun Gong. After the police found out about it, they arrested her neighbor and forced her to testify against Ms. Yao. The police arrested Mr. Yao, ransacked her home, and confiscated some of her Falun Gong materials. She is being held in the Jinshan Detention Center.
Life Turned Around by Practicing Falun Gong
Ms. Yao, a retired teacher, used to suffer from such a severe autoimmune disorder that she lost most of her blood cells. She was in critical condition and hospitalized for eight months.
She remained extremely weak and was unable to take care of herself after returning home.
A few years later, she had problems with menopause, and her period often lasted two weeks at a time, which only made her condition worse.
One of her neighbors introduced her to Falun Gong and she started to learn it. Within a month, all of her symptoms went away. Her doctor was so amazed by the healing effects of Falun Gong that she also wanted to learn the practice.
Ms. Yao felt compelled to share the beauty of the practice with her friends and family. After the communist regime ordered the eradication of Falun Gong, she was repeatedly persecuted for not renouncing her faith.
Arrests and Sentencing
Ms. Yao was first arrested on January 14, 2008, and held in a brainwashing center for a month.
She was arrested again when she was reading Falun Gong books with nine other practitioners on June 30, 2011. She was beaten by guards at the local detention center and still had bruises on her face when she appeared in Baoshan District Court on February 6, 2012. The judge sentenced her to four and a half years in prison on February 17.
Ms. Yao was taken to Songjiang Women's Prison on April 17, 2012. When she was diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and an extremely low platelet count, she was released from the prison and ordered to serve her time at home.
The police arrested her again on May 23, 2014, and attempted to have her re-admitted to the prison. She was turned away based on her physical condition.
After that, the authorities often harassed her during major holidays or national events. Two plainclothes officers followed her prior to the China International Import Expo held in Shanghai in November 2018.
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