Ms. He Chengyu from Sichuan Province Dies as a Result of Abuse and Torture in Detention

Name: He Chengyu
Gender: Female
Age: 54
Address: Heshi Town, Da County, Dazhou City, Sichuan Province
Occupation: Farm labourer
Date of Death: November 2013
Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 6th, 2012
Most Recent Place of Detention: Yangmahe Prison
City: Jianyang City
Province: Sichuan Province
Persecution Suffered: Beatings, imprisonment, torture, force-feeding, detention, home ransacked

Falun Gong practitioner Ms. He Chengyu, a 54-year-old farm labourer, was arrested on May 6th, 2012, and was sentenced to five years in prison. She was persecuted severely while held at the Dazhou City Detention Centre and the Yangmahe Prison in Jianyang City. She died in November 2013 as a result of torture.

Ms. He went on a hunger strike from the time she was arrested, to protest the unlawful persecution. She was transferred to the Dazhou City Detention Centre within a week of her arrest and was brutally force-fed there by guards and inmates. Even the inmates admitted that the torture she endured was excessively cruel; however, she was subjected to more severe torture at the Yangmahe Prison. The guards sent her to the prison hospital after she was brutally beaten. Ms. He died in November 2013 as a result of the severe abuse.

Three other practitioners were arrested along with Ms. He. Hu Xingbi, Bi Dehui, and Zhou Hong were arrested by officers from the Da County Domestic Security Division and the Heshi Town Police Station. They were held at the Dazhou City Detention Centre for months before being secretly sentenced.

Ms. He Chengyu, from Heshi Town, Da County, Dazhou City in Sichuan Province, began practising Falun Gong in 1998. She was persecuted since the persecution started in 1999 because she upheld her belief and persisted in practising Falun Gong.