Hou Jinyuan, female, 59, and Jia Shilin, male, 62 (Ms. Hou’s husband), both residents of Baiyanghu Village, Mengquan Town, Shimen County, Changde City, Hunan Province.
Since Ms. Hou and Mr. Tan are Falun Gong practitioners, on December 24, 2000, they were forcibly taken to the Changde City Brainwashing Center. On March 18, 2001, they were transferred to Shimen County Detention Center.
On January 13, 2002, Ms. Hou started a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. On January 17, Tan Chunping, the vice-director of the "610 Office" of Shimen County, took Ms. Hou to the No. 13 section (Psychosis Ward) of the People's Hospital of Shimen County. On the same day, Tan administered her with an intramuscular injection and intravenous fluid for four hours. On the fifth day after the injection, her legs became numb. By the end of January, both of her legs were paralyzed, and both eyes had blurry vision. By February 12, 2002, she was completely blind in both eyes.
Mr. Tan was detained in a dark and damp ward on the first level of the Shimen County Detention Center. Due to the long-term detention, he also lost his eyesight in July 2001.
On March 24, 2002, Ms. Hou and Mr. Tan were released. However, since both of them are now blind, it is very difficult for them to take care of themselves.
The “610 Office” is an agency specifically created to persecute Falun Gong, with absolute power over
each level of administration in the Party and all other political and judiciary systems.
