(Minghui.org) A 76-year-old woman has been detained for nearly a month for practicing Falun Gong, a spiritual and meditation discipline that has been persecuted by the Chinese communist regime since 1999.

A group of officers broke into Ms. Xu Genying's home in Yichun City, Jiangxi Province on September 25, 2019. They confiscated her computer, printer, and Falun Gong-related materials. She has since been held at a local detention center.

Ms. Xu, a retired worker from a shock absorber factory, used to suffer from severe rheumatoid arthritis all over her body. She was almost paralyzed from the condition and had trouble taking care of herself.

A friend introduced Falun Gong to her in January 1998 and she began to practice. Her health recovered in two weeks, and she changed from being hot-tempered to a more considerate person. Tense relationships with her neighbors were also eased.

Because she refused to give up Falun Gong after the communist regime ordered the persecution in 1999, she was repeatedly arrested and harassed. The authorities closely monitored her daily life and sometimes didn't allow her to leave home.

Ms. Xu was arrested on January 18, 2001 and sent to a brainwashing center by a local 610 Office, an extralegal agency created specifically to persecute Falun Gong. She was held there for two months and forced to watch slanderous videos and attend lectures designed to force her to renounce her faith. She was also forced to pay 2,000 yuan as “tuition.”

After Ms. Xu was released, she was forced to move out of her apartment, which was sponsored by her late husband's workplace, with her three children, because she held firm to her faith.

Agents from the Yuanzhou District 610 Office broke into her home on June 3, 2004, took her away, then ransacked her place when only her 2-year-old granddaughter was at home. 

The police confiscated her Falun Gong books and a printer, as well as many other valuables in her son's convenience shop, resulting in more than a 100,000 yuan financial loss to her family.

Ms. Xu was given a three year term at Jiangxi Women's Forced Labor Camp, where she was forced to work without pay and attend brainwashing sessions. She was tortured and monitored by inmates around the clock.

The police held her in the police station for more than ten hours in October 2011, claiming that she was reported for having received something from other Falun Gong practitioners.

Ms. Xu was again arrested in October 2013, after being reported for putting up posters about Falun Gong. The police ransacked her home and held her at the police station for eight hours.