(Minghui.org)
Name: Zou PeixiaChinese Name: 邹佩霞Gender: FemaleAge: In her 70sCity: DongyingProvince: ShandongOccupation: N/ADate of Death: Around March 20, 2026Date of Most Recent Arrest: September 17, 2019Most Recent Place of Detention: Dongying City Detention Center
A woman in Dongying City, Shandong Province died around March 20, 2026, after suffering decades of persecution for her faith in Falun Gong.
Ms. Zou Peixia, in her 70s, took up Falun Gong around 1996, and soon became healthy. Her husband, Mr. Geng Lutang, joined her in the practice and recovered from high blood pressure. He also quit his 30-year drinking habit.
After the communist regime started persecuting Falun Gong in July 1999, the couple held firm to their faith, and were repeatedly targeted. Ms. Zou was given three years of forced labor in October 2000, and endured various forms of abuse in the Wangcun Women’s Labor Camp.
The guards beat her, forced her to sit and stand for long hours, put her in solitary confinement, restricted her restroom use, and made her do hard labor without pay. As a result she developed a mental disorder. After being released in March 2002, she often remained silent and would go up to ten days without eating or drinking. She was later formally diagnosed with severe depression.
Mr. Geng brought Ms. Zou to various hospitals for treatments, but to no avail. In 2007, they decided to start practicing Falun Gong again, having stopped practicing years prior under pressure. Ms. Zou’s depression soon disappeared, and laughter was again heard in their home.
The couple was arrested on September 17, 2019, while talking to people at a fair about their miraculous experience with Falun Gong. Mr. Geng was taken to the Hekou Detention Center and Ms. Zou to the Dongying City Detention Center.
Mr. Geng was released on bail on October 20, 2019, after his blood pressure shot up to a dangerously high level. The couple was tried by the Dongying City Court in a virtual hearing on November 2, 2020, and later both were sentenced to three years and three months in prison with a 30,000-yuan fine. Their pensions were suspended at an unknown time.
See the related reports for details of the couple’s persecution.
Married Couple in Their 70s Sentenced to Prison for Their Shared Faith
Three Shandong Residents in their Seventies Detained for Their Faith