(Minghui.org) After not seeing Ms. Xu Junming for a few days, her aunt, who lives next door, knocked on her door on April 26, 2019. No one answered, and the concerned aunt asked her son to climb over the fence wall outside of Ms. Xu's house to check on her. He was devastated to find Ms. Xu's dead body, which had already become stiff.
It looked like Ms. Xu had attempted to stand up before collapsing into her bed. She also had blood coming out from her mouth when her family put a shroud on her.
Her family suspected that she might have died from a stroke or heart problem after being terrified by the police, who scaled her fence and broke into her house a few days prior to threaten her not to practice Falun Gong any longer.
Falun Gong, also known as Falun Dafa, is a spiritual discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.
Ms. Xu and her husband, Mr. Sun Fuyi, residents of Huairou District, Beijing, were repeatedly targeted by the authorities for refusing to renounce their faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Xu's tragic death happened while Mr. Sun, 71, was still detained in a brainwashing center for upholding his faith.
Mr. Sun had just returned home on January 10, 2019 after serving three years in prison for raising awareness about the persecution of Falun Gong. Barely two months later, he and his wife were arrested again on March 7. Their printer and Falun Gong related materials were confiscated.
Th couple was taken to Quanhe Police Station and interrogated. Both refused to cooperate with the police or sign the interrogation records.
The police took the couple to Huairou District Detention Center in Beijing the next day. Mr. Sun was admitted to the detention center, but Ms. Xu was rejected after she failed the physical exam for having a heart problem and high blood pressure. The police sent her home in the middle of the night.
Two officers from Quanhe Police Station harassed Ms. Xu again on the morning of March 9, and attempted to force her to write statements renouncing Falun Gong. She refused.
Mr. Sun was released from the detention center in early April, only to be arrested again and sent to a brainwashing center two weeks later.
According to Ms. Xu's aunt, four officers knocked on her door on the morning of April 22 or 23. She refused to open the door. The officers climbed her fence wall and got into her home. They pressured her to give up practicing Falun Gong, and asked where she obtained the Falun Gong materials. She didn't answer the questions. The police stayed for several hours, and left at around 11:00 a.m.
Ms. Xu was found dead on April 26, 2019. She was 65 years old.
Ms. Xu's son went to the brainwashing center in the afternoon and took Mr. Sun back home to make arrangement for her funeral. One officer followed Mr. Sun everywhere he went, in order to prevent him from running away.
The police attempted to take Mr. Sun back to the brainwashing center after Ms. Xu's funeral, but were met with strong objection from his family. Mr. Sun's son blamed the police for being responsible for his mother's death. The police finally left after he threatened to file a complaint against them for the persecution.
Repeatedly Persecuted for Their Faith
Ms. Xu began practicing Falun Gong in 1997 to improve her health. She had many medical conditions, including headache, arthritis in her neck spinal disk, as well as heart disease and other problems with her internal organs. She had a quick turnaround in her health after learning Falun Gong, and also became happier, and more calm and considerate.
Upon seeing her changes, Mr. Sun also picked up the practice. Mr. Sun, a retired employee from a telecommunications agency, often helps his friends and colleagues to fix small appliances at no cost. He is well known among locals for his good heart.
After the communist regime ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in 1999, Ms. Xu appealed for Falun Gong and was arrested and held at the police station for one day. From that point on, the police never stopped harassing her for her faith.
Because she did the Falun Gong exercises outdoors in the morning, the police arrested Ms. Xu and detained her for 28 days. She went to Tiananmen Square to hold up a Falun Gong banner shortly after she was released. The police beat her and detained her at Qianmen Police Station.
After Ms. Xu returned home, her workplace frequently demanded that she write statements renouncing Falun Gong. She refused to do so, and was forced to live away from home for a year.
She was arrested and detained at a brainwashing center for two weeks in 2002.
Two years later, Mr. Sun was also arrested and given 1.5 years of forced labor in December 2004.
Both he and his wife were forced to live away from home again in November 2011 after frequent harassment by the police. They moved frequently for a year, sometimes spending the night in their car while temperatures were below freezing.
The couple was reported for talking to people about Falun Gong while shopping at a local market on January 11, 2016. Ms. Xu escaped, but Mr. Sun was arrested.
Mr. Sun was diagnosed with high blood pressure at the detention center, but the authorities refused to release him on bail for medical treatment.
He appeared in Shunyi District Court on December 9, 2016, and was sentenced to a three-year prison sentence and fined 3,000 yuan on December 28. He appealed the verdict to the Beijing No. 3 Intermediate Court. The judge upheld his sentence and ordered him to serve time at Qianjin Prison in Tianjin.
Ms. Xu was forced to live away from home again for more than a year to avoid being arrested while Mr. Sun was imprisoned.
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