(Minghui.org) Once tortured into a mental breakdown while serving three years in a forced labor camp for her faith in Falun Gong, a woman in her late 50s was sentenced to a three-year prison term and fined 20,000 yuan in December 2019.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is an ancient spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since July 1999.
Ms. Guo Yanhua, a retired textile factory worker in Jinzhou City, Liaoning Province, took up Falun Gong before the persecution started. She credits the practice for changing her from being a demanding person into a more considerate wife and daughter-in-law. Her tense relationship with her parents-in-law improved.
Ms. Guo went to Beijing to appeal for the right to practice Falun Gong shortly after the communist regime started the persecution. She was arrested and sent back to Jinzhou. She held a hunger strike to protest the arbitrary detention and was then released.
Ms. Guo was arrested again in 2004 for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong and was given three years at Masanjia Forced Labor Camp.
The labor camp guards not only forced Ms. Guo to do intensive unpaid labor, but also beat her, resulting in severe head injuries. After she was released, she remained in a delirious state for a long time––her memory was very poor and she often cried, laughed, and shouted uncontrollably. Her condition gradually improved after she resumed practicing Falun Gong.
Fearing the persecution, her husband divorced her and was given custody of their child.
Ms. Guo was arrested again at around 7:00 p.m. at home on September 29, 2019. The authorities quickly went through the prosecution process of her case. The Taihe District Court sentenced her to prison in mid-December 2019.
Ms. Guo has been detained at the Jinzhou City Women’s Detention Center since her latest arrest. Her memory has become even poorer.
