(Minghui.org) A 15-year-old boy traveled 300 miles alone to visit his father, who is imprisoned at a forced labor camp in northern China for practicing Falun Gong. Turned away, he went back and forth between the bus station and the labor camp gate several times, begging the guards to let him have just one look at his father. All he got was a “No.”
This was not the first time the boy's father, Mr. Li Xingping (李兴平), had been taken away and imprisoned for his belief in Falun Dafa. In 2003, Mr. Li was sent to Suihua City Forced Labor Camp in Heilongjiang Province. He was detained there for three years and subjected to starvation, intense forced labor, and beatings by the guards and inmates. As a result, he developed an irregular heartbeat and severely deteriorated hearing and eyesight. He also lost more than half of his teeth.
Due to Mr. Li's imprisonment, his younger son had to drop out of middle school to help his mother support the family.
Yearning to see his father, the boy took the long journey by himself. Upset at being unable to see him, the boy lost his voice crying. When he finally gave up, he found that the last bus home had left for the day. Without much money or an ID card, he had to spend the night on the street. When he eventually got home, he broke down in tears again.
Repeated Imprisonment and Abuse
Mr. Li's elder son was forced to drop out of high school in 2001, when Mr. Li was imprisoned for three months.
Mr. Li was also detained in 2000 for three months. He was beaten while handcuffed to a heating pipe at the local police station in Qitaihe, Heilongjiang Province, before he was taken to the Qitaihe Detention Center.
The authorities had Mr. Li demoted from his position and repeatedly harassed him for refusing to renounce his belief in Falun Dafa.
He was removed from his position as the principal of Lanfeng Elementary School in Qitaihe and assigned to a teacher position at a rural village elementary school. He was later was re-assigned to another village elementary school farther away from his home.
Mr. Li was transferred back to Lanfeng Elementary School in 2008 but was again demoted, this time to boiling hot water in the boiler room.
The local police frequently harassed him over the years by calling him in for interrogation, showing up at his home, taking his fingerprints, etc. They also confiscated his identification card.
The authorities worked with the Municipal Education Bureau to withhold part of his salary. Since the Communist Party started persecuting Falun Dafa in 1999, the authorities have deprived Mr. Li of 260,000 yuan (U.S. $42,000).
