... They closed the window and the door so that no one could hear her screams. Then they tied her hands behind her back with a wet towel, pressed her on the bed, and beat her. Ms. Tan’s body was trembling terribly during the torture. They beat her until she almost fainted. Days of continuous torture caused Ms. Tan to have a miscarriage. She suffered from menstrual disorders, aches around her lower back and stomach, and numbness in her arms and legs.

Ms. Tan Yajiao and her husband, Mr. Liang Tielong, residents of Benxi City, Liaoning Province, both practice Falun Gong.

On September 18, 2004, the Bexi “610 Office” ordered the local policemen from the Dongming Police Station to arrest Ms. Tan and Mr. Liang, as part of mass arrests of over 50 Falun Gong practitioners. The police also confiscated their personal belongings.

Ms. Tan, who was pregnant, was tortured on the same night that she was arrested. In the Dongming Police Station, five strong police officers beat her and shocked her with electronic batons until she lost consciousness and fell to the floor. Later, she was sent to the Bailou Detention Center in Benxi City, where she suffered further torture. She went on a hunger strike to protest the persecution. Female guard Zhang Jinjuan instructed inmates to bind Ms. Tan with handcuffs and shackles so she could not move any part of her body. Then they beat her. She also suffered forced feeding. On September 25, 2004, Zhang ordered the inmates not to remove the force-feeding tube from Ms. Tan’s stomach. Ms. Tan pulled the tube out because of the unbearable pain. Zhang then ordered the inmates to torture her. They closed the window and the door so that no one could hear her screams. Then they tied her hands behind her back with a wet towel, pressed her on the bed, and beat her. Ms. Tan’s body was trembling terribly during the torture. They beat her until she almost fainted. Days of continuous torture caused Ms. Tan to have a miscarriage. She suffered from menstrual disorders, aches around her lower back and stomach, and numbness in her arms and legs.

Four months after her arrest, the Pingshan District Court sentenced Ms. Tan to nine years in prison and Mr. Liang to twelve years in prison. The couple is imprisoned at the Dabei Prison in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province.