(Minghui.org) After her twin daughters were born when she was 32, Ms. Kang Qihui developed pelvic congestion syndrome and was bedridden for the next 11 years. She visited big hospitals but was always sent home. Ms. Kang also tried Chinese medicine and different qigong schools, but nothing completely cured her. As her daughters grew up, they’d always first go see if she was still alive when they came from school.

Ms. Kang of Hefei City, Anhui Province, later received a flyer about Falun Gong, an ancient spiritual discipline. Interested in Falun Gong’s health benefits, Ms. Kang began to read Zhuan Falun, the main text of the practice. In two days, she miraculously recovered.

Deeply grateful to Falun Gong for giving her a new life, Ms. Kang was eager to tell more people about its health benefits. In her spare time, she began to go out and talk to people and distribute informational materials.

On April 23, 2020, Ms. Kang was reported by people who misunderstood Falun Gong. Police Station officers arrested her, ransacked her home, and confiscated her Falun Gong books, informational materials, computer, printer, and laminator. She was put in criminal detention in Hefei City Women’s Detention Center after being interrogated at the police station.

The Feidong County Procuratorate approved Ms. Kang’s arrest on May 7, 2020. The police submitted her case to the Shushan District Procuratorate in July.

Ms. Kang was tried in the Shushan District Court on November 27, 2020. Her husband, who hasn’t seen her for seven months, wasn’t allowed to attend. The judge claimed that he was listed as a witness against Ms. Kang by the police.

Ms. Kang detailed her health recovery from practicing Falun Gong and she pleaded not guilty for talking to people about it. The presiding judge, Wu Xiaoshui, was so surprised to hear her story that she blurted out, “You said Falun Gong cured your disease?”

Ms. Kang’s two lawyers entered a not guilty plea for her and refuted the charge of “undermining law enforcement with a cult organization,” a standard pretext used by the authorities to frame and imprison Falun Gong practitioners.

The judge later sentenced Ms. Kang to 4.5 years with an 8,000-yuan fine. She appealed the verdict, but the higher court ruled to uphold her original sentence on April 19, 2021, without a hearing. She has been taken to the Anhui Province Women’s Prison.

Related report:

Prosecutor and Judge Surprised to Learn Facts about Falun Gong During Trial of a Practitioner

Chinese version available

Category: Accounts of Persecution