Wang Yufu, female, born on January 25, 1954, was a resident of Benxi City in Liaoning Province and joined The Church of Almighty God (CAG) in 2004.
On June 27, 2018, Liaoning authorities launched the “Operation Thunder” campaign to wantonly arrest CAG Christians. Wang was reported by someone in her local community for having faith in Almighty God and hosting Christians for worship gatherings and she was held in security detention for 15 days. In her custody, she was repeatedly intimidated and threatened by the police, which caused a recurrence of her heart condition along with dizziness. After her release, Wang lived in a constant state of fear and an extremely tense state, which led to a sudden heart attack. On September 14, she died at the age of 64 after rescue failed.
Before her death, Wang Yufu reported that around 5:00 a.m. on the morning of June 27, 2018 just as she had got out of bed, five police officers with the Tieshan Police Station in Nanfen District, Benxi City suddenly burst into her home, and without showing any kind of documentation said to her, “You believe in Almighty God, and you’re being arrested!” She was then taken to the station by the officers. While there, Wang Yufu noticed that the officers interrogating her had been to her house not long before under the guise of being interested in buying it, and they had taken photos of every room in the house. She realized that she had long since been under police surveillance.
During the interrogation, the police tried to force Wang Yufu to divulge information on the church and other Christians. They threatened her, saying, “Don’t think that we won’t do anything because you’re old. Do you believe that we’ll let you die here? Your belief in Almighty God is against the law and we won’t be held responsible even if we beat you to death!” She was interrogated until late into the night, but they didn’t get anything out of her. The Nanfen Branch of Benxi Public Security Bureau gave her 15 days of security detention on the charge of organizing, instigating, coercing, luring, and inciting engagement in xie jiao and secret society activities. She was held in the Benxi Detention Center. While she was detained, the police interrogated her two more times, as well as threatened and intimidated her, leading to a recurrence of her heart condition along with dizziness.
On July 12 when she was released, her face was jaundiced, she had grown thin, and she had a look of fear on her face. She looked years older than before. The police warned her that if she continued to practice her faith or have gatherings with others, she would be sentenced to prison.
After her release Wang Yufu lived in constant fear and would occasionally cry out to her family, “The police terrified me, and they said, ‘Do you believe that we’ll let you die here?’ They also said that if I continued to practice my faith and got arrested they’d sentence me to prison….” She also told her family that every day of her life was incredibly difficult to get through. There was surveillance in the community where she lived and she didn’t dare go out to meet brothers and sisters. She was afraid the police could burst in at any time, so she didn’t dare be alone at home or read God’s words. When she did go out, she became afraid every time a stranger got close to her as she suspected they were an officer following her. Even at night she dreamed of the police arresting her.
Living in such a high-tension state day after day, at around 9:00 p.m. on September 13, Wang Yufu had a sudden heart attack. Emergency treatment was unsuccessful and she died the afternoon of September 14. She left this world just two short months after being released—previously alive and well, she was driven toward death by the Chinese Communist Party.
