(Minghui.org) A 74-year-old woman in Yueyang City, Hunan Province spent the last one month and two days of her nine-month prison term in a hospital. By the time she was released in late July 2025, she had lost about one third of her body weight and needed two people to support her in walking. She also suffers from memory loss and is dazed.
Ms. Cai Guijiao, born in November 1950, was arrested on October 30, 2024 for her faith in Falun Gong, a mind-body practice that has been persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party since July 1999. She was indicted on December 17 and sentenced to nine months in early 2025 (exact time unknown).
While being driven from a local detention center to the Hunan Province Women’s Prison on March 25, 2025, Ms. Cai threw up violently and had severe diarrhea during the 30-mile trip.
Upon prison admission, Ms. Cai declared to the guards, “I follow the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance to be a good person. I will never admit any guilt nor sign any statements to renounce my faith.” She persisted in doing Falun Gong exercises while held at the team for newly admitted inmates.
One month later, Ms. Cai was assigned to the strict management team in Division 7, which was designated to persecute jailed Falun Gong practitioners.
Because she refused to answer roll call, the guards did not allow her to brush her teeth, wash her face, shampoo her hair, or take a shower. The longest duration was 40 days. Additionally, they forced her to sit on a small stool with her hands on her lap and back straight from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day for two straight months.
Six inmates were assigned to monitor Ms. Cai around the clock, including the head inmate surnamed Wang. Wang offered Ms. Cai better food (such as cereal and egg-drop soup) in exchange for her agreement to renounce her faith. Ms. Cai said no and Wang threatened to drag her to an office to force her to sign statements. She was not intimidated by the threats, either.
Wang and other inmates did not allow her to use the restroom or sleep. She still refused to listen to or watch audio/video programs smearing Falun Gong. They wrote on her shirt words defaming Falun Gong. She took off her shirt and washed off the words.
Guards Li and Fang Lei threatened to not allow Wang to eat if Ms. Cai refused to admit guilt or answer roll call. Ms. Cai was not deterred. They then threatened to not allow all 13 inmates in the cell to eat in an attempt to instigate others’ hatred against Ms. Cai. She again remained firm in her faith and Li and Fang relented.
Due to the abuse in prison, Ms. Cai became seriously ill and was taken to a hospital. Two inmates were assigned to watch her there. She spent the last one month and two days of her term in the hospital. By the time she was released in July 2025, she had lost about 46 pounds in her nine-month imprisonment and needed two people to support her in walking.
Past Persecution
Ms. Cai took up Falun Gong in 1998 and soon recovered from her numerous illnesses, including rheumatism, frozen shoulder, gynecological diseases, and complications from childhood measles. After the communist regime started to persecute Falun Gong the following year, she refused to renounce her faith and was repeatedly targeted by the authorities. Prior to her latest persecution episode, she served a one-year forced labor term and two prison terms totaling three years and seven months.
She went to Beijing to appeal for Falun Gong in February 2000 and was arrested and detained for 35 days. Ms. Cai faced constant harassment from the police after she was released. They arrested her again on October 13, 2005 and held her at a brainwashing center for 60 days before transferring her to the Baimalong Labor Camp to serve a one-year term.
Ms. Cai was arrested on December 22, 2007, and interrogated at a police station for one day. The authorities also extorted 3,200 yuan from her. She went into hiding after being released and did not return home until more than three months later.
Ms. Cai’s daughter, Ms. Chen Min, was arrested on October 11, 2010 for practicing Falun Gong. Ms. Chen was given three years of forced labor eight days after her arrest. Ms. Cai went to the local Domestic Security Division on November 18 that year to submit an appeal and was beaten by two officers. Her face was badly bruised and all the buttons on her cotton coat were ripped off. The police asked her who helped her write the appeal and threatened to beat her to death and kill her family.
After she was arrested on February 27, 2012, Ms. Cai was sentenced to three years, on January 7, 2013. She served the first nine months at the Yueyang City First Detention Center and the remainder of her term at the Hunan Province Women’s Prison.
Ms. Cai was arrested again on November 18, 2015 and detained for 41 days. The police seized her again on November 14, 2016 and she was sentenced to seven months in prison, serving time at the Yunxi Detention Center. After she was released on May 1, 2017, the local social security office was instructed by the higher-ups to suspend Ms. Cai’s pension. She appealed the decision and had her pension reinstated in 2021.
Ms. Cai was also harassed at home on September 7, 2017, September 25, 2019, and May 12, 2021. The police raided her home, photographed her and took her fingerprints.
For details of Ms. Cai’s past persecution and the torture she endured during each detention, see the related reports below.
Related Reports:
After Nearly Five Years Behind Bars, 75-Year-Old Hunan Woman Arrested Again for Her Faith
Released From Prison a Year Ago, Woman Sentenced Again
Woman Imprisoned and Tortured for Giving Out Informational DVDs
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