Bitter Winter has received reports from Lanzhou city in Gansu Province where ten believers at a family church were illegally detained and severely tortured for their belief.
On May 25, two believers, Hao Zhen and Lin Qiang (all names are pseudonyms) were in the local market where they were shopping for daily supplies for the church. The police secretly arrested Mr. Hao and took him back to the church storage room. Mr. Lin, who could not find his friend in the market, thought he must have returned to the church and made his way back there as well. Upon arriving, he too was taken into detention by the police.
While they were being interrogated at the church, both of them were beaten severely: their hair and teeth were pulled with pliers, as per sources. The same day, the police also detained Yin Sheng and Mr. Lin’s wife. Both were tortured in a similar manner.
Over 110,000 RMB, Bibles, computers, mobile phones were also seized from the church.
Two days later, the police made another visit to the church and detained six female believers who lived there. They were still in their nightwear when the officers barged in and tied them up. They were beaten relentlessly and were left severely hurt. Two babies were present in the room during the beatings.
Finally, on May 28, all were sent to the detention facility in Lanzhou. Seven were released after 15 days, but the remaining three are still believed to be in detention.
Reported by Ma Xiagu
Ma Xiagu (uses pseudonyms for security reasons), born in 1980, grew up in a Hui family in Ningxia and graduated from Ningxia University. All of his family members are Muslims. Although he does not believe in Islam, after witnessing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) authorities’ repeated forcible demolitions of mosques and concealment of the truth about conflict-induced casualties, he began documenting the truth that he saw and submitted his articles for publication. After Bitter Winter was founded, he took the initiative to join and became a special correspondent of Bitter Winter covering Ningxia, Gansu, and other regions.