Christian Imprisoned, Tortured for Her Belief

Li Xiaoyang (pseudonym), female, born in 1976, is a Christian of The Church of Almighty God (CAG) in the southeastern province of Jiangxi. In September 2021, Li was released from prison after completing her service. She recounted her miserable story in which she was arrested and tortured in prison for her belief in Almighty God.

On September 7, 2018, six police officers broke into Li’s house and arrested her. After she was detained for a week, the police transferred her to a hotel, where they interrogated her secretly for seven days and nights. During the interrogation, the police ordered her to stand still, and deprived her of sleep. They gave her lots of slaps, so that some of her teeth were loosened. When the interrogation proved fruitless, the police sent her to the detention house. One year and three months later, she was sentenced to three years in prison merely for her belief in Almighty God.

During her service in prison, to force Li to give up her belief, the police instructed a double team to mistreat and torture her. The double team made Li stand still from 5 a.m. to midnight every day, which lasted two months. During that period, the double team often deprived her of due food and forbade her to use the toilet. As Li refused to give up her belief, the double team ordered her to keep squating on one of her feet for one hour, and afterward, they bound her hands and tied them to the bed frame, which happened in succession, lasting nearly two months.

On February 28, 2021, as Li refused to put her thumbprint on the materials that blasphemed Almighty God, five or six prisoners gathered around her and gave her slaps on the head and face. They forcibly pulled her hand and put her thumbprint on the materials. After that, they tied her hands to a shelf and suspended her in the air for one day and night, which left bruises on her wrists.

Despite the CCP’s torture, Li still held on to her belief. The prison guard incited six or seven prisoners to take turns to beat her violently. One of them beat her face and jaw with the sole of a shoe, one gave her hard kicks, and one gave a fierce kick to her head, so that she knocked her head heavily on the wall. The beating lasted more than one hour.

Now Li Xiaoyang has been released from prison, but she has yet to have freedom. As the result of the torture, she suffers from frequent headaches and memory loss, with her right hand weak, and her right thumb numb.