Xiang Xinsheng (pseudonym, male, 26 at that time), living in Shenyang City in Liaoning Province, is a Christian of The Church of Almighty God.
At about 9 p.m. one night in October 2015, Xiang Xinsheng and another 24-year-old Christian Wang Lin (pseudonym) were intercepted by three police cars when they had just finished the church work and were on the way to their temporary residence in Liaozhong District in Shenyang City. Six or seven armed police officers hopped out the cars, knocked Xiang Xinsheng down and pinned him to the ground, claiming, “Armed police!” They then handcuffed the two Christians and escorted them to a local police station.
The police confiscated Xiang Xinsheng’s belt, cell phone and money, and then took him to the second floor for interrogation. In order to force Xiang Xinsheng to disclose information about the church, they cursed him, punched him, kicked him, and slapped his face. As he did not give any direct answers, an officer pressed the electric baton firmly on the injuries he got during the arrest, which caused a sharp pain and made him cry, “Is there no law? You have no evidence but arrest whoever you want.”
One officer roared, “We are the law! Today we will beat you until you confess.”
The officers pinned Xiang Xinsheng in a sofa, stripped him of all his bottom clothes, frantically jabbed his legs and genitals with the electric baton for 5 minutes. The electricity even caused smoke and made him utterly miserable.
The officers then used various methods and measures to entice and persuade him to reveal the information about other Christians. Seeing that he wouldn’t share any information they demanded to know, the officer stood on the sofa, lifting up the handcuffs locking his hands at the back and pressing his neck with his foot at the same time. Xiang Xinsheng felt unbearable pain as if his arms and wrists were broken. The officer tortured him in this way for about a quarter and didn’t stop until he got tired.
After that, another officer doused pepper spray to Xiang Xinsheng’s eyes, month, and face for 3 or 4 times, and then gave him electric shocks on his body. Xiang Xinsheng writhed on the ground in pain. Five officers held his body down tightly, punching and kicking him. An officer kicked him violently at his lower back. Another officer grabbed his hair with one hand and held a stack of A4 paper in another hand to slap his faces. The police tortured him for about 2 hours, but their interrogation never yielded any results.
At 11:30 a.m. the next day, the police arbitrarily convicted him of groundless charges, fined him 3000 RMB and confiscated his electric scooters before they released them.
After release, the severe torture kept him bedridden for half a month, during which Xiang Xinsheng couldn’t take care of himself.
