(Minghui.org) More than three years of abuse and mistreatment in prison has left Ms. Zhao Rongcai in life-threatening conditions several times. She is emaciated and unable to take care of herself. She is force-fed daily.

Ms. Zhao Rongcai is a Falun Gong practitioner from Tushan Town, Pizhou City, Jiangsu Province. When she was illegally arrested in 2010, her youngest daughter was only six-years old. She is now ten-years old, but she still cannot be enrolled in a school, because local authorities and police officials refuse to register the girl in the local household registration. The child has to stay at home with her grandmother as they struggle to survive.

Arrested and Imprisoned

Ms. Zhao Rongcai was arrested on March 31, 2010, and then detained in Zhanglou Detention Center in Pizhou City. Her four children were left at home uncared for. She strongly requested to go home to take care of them. She began a hunger strike to protest the illegal detention. As a result, she was brutally force-fed. The abuse and mistreatment made her very weak. The detention center officials had to release her on bail, but they didn't provide any relevant legal documents or follow any legal procedures.

In less than a year, Ms. Zhao was arrested again on February 17, 2011. Tushan Town Police officer Cao Qiang and three other Pizhou Court officers arrested her and directly took her to the Nanjing Women's Prison without providing her or her family any legal documents. The court claimed that she has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison, and she can be re-detained in jail any time during that period. Once again, her four children were left at home with no one to take care of them.

Unsuccessful Brainwashing

In order to “transform” Ms. Zhao, Nanjing Women's Prison authorities specifically called in guard Cao Xinhong from Hongzehu Prison, who is regarded to be an expert in brainwashing. Cao separately implemented a series of methods to persecute Ms. Zhao, but her attempts were unsuccessful.

The prison authorities also planned to have her relatives come to "transform" her, but failed. Since then, the prison officials have not allowed her family to visit her. When her family asks about Ms. Zhao's condition, the guards all say, "I do not know."

Previous Persecution

Mrs. Zhao began practicing Falun Gong in 1998. Since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting Falun Gong in 1999, she and her husband, Mr. Zhang Wei, have been persecuted many times. Mr. Zhang was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to four years in prison and persecuted in the Hongzehu Prison. Ms. Zhao was arrested in 2005, sentenced to three years, detained, and persecuted in Jurong Women’s Forced Labor Camp. She was released from the camp in the summer of 2008.

Related article: Ms. Zhao Rongcai Subjected to Brainwashing in Nanjing Women's Prison