Mr. Tao Hongsheng from Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province was tortured to death on September 20, 2000

Mr. Tao Hongsheng, his wife Ms. Yu Fengyun, and their two daughters Ms. Tao Lili, 24, and Ms. Tao Yufei, 20, lived at 501, Unit 2, Building 2, 2 North Xihuan Road, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province. Mr. Tao worked at the Hebei National Security Office and Ms. Yu was a housewife. In 1996, the whole family started to practice Falun Gong. They benefited from the practice as Mr. Tao's nephritis improved and Ms. Yu's gynecological disease disappeared without medical treatment. The Tao’s were a happy family before the persecution began.

In December 1999, Mr. Tao, his wife, and elder daughter Lili went to Beijing to appeal to the government to stop the persecution of Falun Gong. They were arrested at Tiananmen Square, and then taken to a detention place, where police poured cold water on their necks. That night, a drunken policeman whipped Lili with a rope until her body was covered with bruises. On the second day, they were escorted back to Shijiazhuang City. Ms. Yu and Lili were detained at the Xijiao Police Station, Mr. Tao was held within his work unit. Lili was released at first. Ms. Yu was released after she went on a hunger strike for more than one month to protest the detention.

On January 7, 2000, Mr. Tao was sentenced to three years of forced labor, and fired from his job.

Since 2000, the local authorities continued threatening and harassing Ms. Yu and her two daughters. The persecution has traumatized them both physically and mentally.

On September 17, 2000, the Shijiazhuang Labor Camp notified Ms. Yu that her husband was hospitalized. When they arrived at the hospital, they found Mr. Tao emaciated. He was also too weak to talk and was still handcuffed and under surveillance. That same day, Ms. Yu took him home. Mr. Tao passed away on the third day after returning home. His death was a heavy blow to the family.

In August 2001, Ms. Yu was sentenced to two years of forced labor. During her detention, she was deprived of sleep, beaten, not allowed to use the toilet, and under constant surveillance. Her two daughters were not allowed to visit her. When she was released, she was just skin and bones.

In October 2003, Ms. Yu was detained in a brainwashing class for several months, where she was deprived of sleep and was forced to watch programs that slandered Falun Gong. Her thighs were covered with bruises from being repeatedly pinched. She went on a hunger strike for nearly a month to protest the detention; subsequently the police force-fed her and otherwise tortured her to the brink of death.

In September 2004, Ms. Yu was arrested again when she told people the truth about the  persecution of Falun Gong. She was sent to the Guchengwan Detention Center.

type=case,religious; type=case,torture; type=case,death;type=labor camp;Shijiazhuang Labor Camp;location=Hebei,Shijiazhuang