Li Sulian, female, was born on June 23, 1963; she lived on the 12th floor of the Wanding Square Community in Yucheng County, Shangqiu City, Henan Province. She became a believer in the Lord Jesus in 1993 and in 2000 joined The Church of Almighty God. On May 7, 2019, she was pursued and surrounded at her home by the CCP police because she had been sharing the gospel. In order to escape arrest and brutal torture by the Communist Party, while making a daring attempt to escape out the 12th floor window, she sadly plunged to her death, hitting a third floor balcony. She was only 56 years old.
Surrounded by Police in Her Home for Sharing the Gospel
Li Sulian’s husband revealed that around 2 p.m. on May 7, 2019 while he was out of the house working, his wife called him from their home phone and said that there were several strangers knocking on the door who claimed to be property superintendents for their residential community; she asked him to go back home to take a look. He subsequently received a call from an officer with the Maqiao Town Police Station in Yongcheng City, who said, “Your wife has been reported for evangelizing in Yongcheng City. We’re at your door now. You need to go back home right now and cooperate with us.” Having confirmed that it was indeed the police at their door, he made the excuse that his wife was not at home to evade complying with their request so that his wife would not be arrested and tortured.
That evening at 7:30 p.m. when Li Sulian’s husband returned home from work, to his surprise, six or seven police officers were still camped out at the entrance to their home. One officer showed his identification and then demanded that he open the door. As soon as they entered, the officer forced him to stay on the sofa while the remaining officers started tearing through the entire place, just like bandits. They turned the entire place upside-down in their mad attempt to find his wife and any evidence of her faith, but ended up empty-handed. Enraged, an officer barked at Li Sulian’s husband, “Where is she? You’re guilty of harboring a criminal. Once we get our hands on your wife, she’ll be sent to jail!” Li Sulian’s nephew had just then walked in; the police took both her husband and nephew with them, detaining them in Yucheng County’s Chengguan Town Police Station for questioning.
Plunging to Her Death While Attempting a Daring Escape
At 8 a.m. on May 8, the police said this to Li Sulian’s husband: “There was a woman in her 50s in your residential community [Wanding Square Community] who jumped out a window and died. Go take a look and see if it was your wife. Get to the crematorium right away to identify her body.” Li Sulian’s husband and son immediately rushed to the crematorium and positively identified the body as Li Sulian. Her entire face was covered with blood, her eyeballs had come out of the sockets, her front teeth were gone, and her legs were mangled. This grisly sight was incredibly painful for her family to witness; both of them felt weak all over. Her husband was so distressed that he couldn’t eat or drink anything for several days.
According to a third floor resident’s recollection, the incident occurred around 5 p.m. that day. He was at home when he heard the thud of something heavy falling from a great distance, but at the time he had no idea it was a person.
One of the property superintendents in the community recalled that around 8 p.m. that night, someone saw a person lying on a third floor balcony that was tied to a bedsheet. There was also a bedsheet tied to a 12th floor window; it was very clear that she had fallen from above. The police later arrived at the scene and took the body to a local undertaker. A forensic examination determined the time of death to be approximately 6 p.m. that evening.
Police Shirk All Responsibility, Family Has No Recourse
Li Sulian’s family was devastated and full of indignation after this tragedy, and believed that the Yongcheng City Public Security Bureau held full responsibility for her death. However, a lawyer told them, “There’s a major campaign against The Church of Almighty God nationwide right now. Your chances of winning are miniscule.” They were astounded that they wouldn’t be able to seek justice for her brutal death. Afraid that the issue would cause problems for them, and that it would incite public anger, the Maqiao Town Police Station in Yongcheng City denied any responsibility with the excuse of going to the wrong address to arrest the wrong person. They compensated her family about 60,000 RMB for the funeral expenses (approximately 8,415 USD). A neighbor later confirmed that several days before her death, plainclothes police officers had been going through the community with a photo of Li Sulian trying to collect information on her religious beliefs.
Li Sulian’s body was cremated on May 18.
Li Sulian’s sudden, tragic death was a devastating blow for her family. To this day they are still in the midst of incredible suffering and are reluctant to discuss the matter at all. Those who knew Li Sulian have expressed with regret, “She was a wonderful person. Such an upstanding person was driven to her death by the police!”
