Lin Cuizhen, female, a native of Jiangsu’s Nanjing City, was born on June 14, 1958. She joined The Church of Almighty God (CAG) in April 2012.
The community police officers went to her home and questioned her twice in May of 2017 and 2018, so her personal information has been recorded by the police.
On December 5, 2018, seven officers with Xiejiadian Police Station, Jiangbei New Area Branch of Nanjing Public Security Bureau, searched Lin’s house without presenting a warrant, finding a video player, a memory card, and a handwritten copy of Almighty God’s words. Officers confiscated all the items and took Lin to the station.
At the station, the police interrogated Lin in shifts. They demanded she reveal who converted her to The Church of Almighty God, when she started to believe, and who was the church leader, but Lin refused to answer. They then threatened her, “If you still don’t confess, your granddaughters will be stopped from going to school. Even if we let you go today, we will have your daughter and your two granddaughters arrested with you three days from now.” Lin was deprived of food and sleep while in detention. Lin felt hungry and cold. Gradually she couldn’t support herself, her hands, feet and lips trembling.
On the early morning of December 6, Lin Cuizhen had a stomach flare-up and the tremendous pain made her whole body tremble. But the police just turned a blind eye to this. Eventually she collapsed on the cold concrete ground, her hands and feet twitching terribly. It was until then the police called Lin’s daughter.
Later that morning, Lin’s daughter rushed to the police station and found her mother lying on the ground with her body and lips trembling. She demanded from the police to know what had happened. The police replied, “Your mother believes in Almighty God and we found some faith-related items at your home. In China, belief in God is illegal and a crime. The CCP will arrest and suppress any believers.”
Lin’s daughter called for an ambulance immediately and rushed her mother to the Nanjing Zhongda Hospital. In the afternoon, Lin gradually went back to normal.
When she was to leave the hospital, she asked her daughter to take her back to the police station, worried that going home would only implicate her family. Her daughter refused and took her directly home. Lin’s family asked her for details of her arrest and interrogation, but she didn’t tell them much. Knowing that Lin had been detained for 24 hours without sleeping, her family stopped asking and let her have a rest first.
Around 5:00 am on December 7, unable to stand the tremendous mental pressure, Lin hung herself in the corner of the garage, because she was afraid of being arrested and tortured again and implicating her family.
Lin’s sudden death was a terrible blow to her family, bringing them great pain. Her family couldn’t accept it. Her daughter cried, “My mother has believed in God for a few years. Everything went well before the arrest. It’s the police that forced my mother to take her life.”
Ms. Lin’s family went to the station to demand an explanation, but the police completely denied their responsibility and didn’t reply them. So, they can only endure in silence the pain of their beloved one dying with a grievance. They said despairingly, “The Party’s mouth is big, and our mouth is small. We know the CCP pushed her toward death, but we have no place to argue.
And no lawyer would dare to accept our case, we can do nothing….”
