(Minghui.org) Since the Chinese Communist Party launched a nationwide campaign against Falun Gong in July 1999, many Falun Gong practitioners have been persecuted to death as a result of unofficial policies such as “defame their reputations, ruin them financially, and destroy them physically,” “practitioners beaten to death count as suicide,” and “cremate the bodies of deceased practitioners without verifying their identities or obtaining family consent.”

Many of the practitioners who have died or been lost during the past 24 years of the persecution were fathers. Father’s Day, June 18, will soon be here, but many families in China won’t be able to celebrate the special occasion. Below are four recent deaths involving fathers.

Henan Man Dies the Day after Being Arrested for Practicing Falun Gong

Mr. Li Guoxun and his wife Ms. Yu Xiuying in Zhoukou City, Henan Province, were arrested and had their home ransacked on July 18, 2022. The arresting officers from the Economic Development Zone Police Station said someone had reported them for distributing informational materials about Falun Gong.

Mr. Li died in custody the very next day. The police released Ms. Yu and ordered her to stay at home. When her son said that the police had called and told him his father had died of a stroke, she was devastated. They said they’d taken him to the local funeral home. Without allowing Ms. Yu or her son to see Mr. Li for the last time, the police had him cremated. Mr. Li was 70.

Ms. Yu suspects that Mr. Li was tortured to death.

Husband and Wife Both Pass Away in Early 2023 After Years of Persecution for Their Faith in Falun Gong

After the Chinese Communist Party began to persecute Falun Gong in July 1999, a couple in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, was repeatedly targeted for upholding their faith. They were arrested more than ten times in total and detained in lockups and brainwashing centers. Mr. Liu Yongsheng served eight years in prison and saw his pension suspended years later. He and his wife, Ms. Hu Mingxiu, passed away one after another in early 2023. Mr. Liu was 73 and Ms. Hu 71. They are survived by a son who has a mental disability and is unable to care for himself

Husband and Wife Pass Away Three Months Apart in the Persecution of Falun Gong

When Mr. Gao Zhencai of Tangshan City, Hebei Province, was released on January 2, 2023, after serving a 3.5-year term for his faith in Falun Gong, he was emaciated, nearly blind, and incapacitated. His wife, Ms. Xu Suqin, was not at home to greet him as she had passed away in mid-November 2022, due to the mental distress from the persecution.

Mr. Gao died less than two months later on February 26, 2023. He was 71.

After Mr. Gao was last arrested, his daughter once went to the police station to seek his release, only to be arrested and held in custody for a day.

Six-year-old Girl Loses Both Parents in Nine Months

Mr. Wang Yudong of Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province, was an excellent chef and a chess referee. After the persecution began, both he and his wife Ms. Zhu Xiumin were repeatedly targeted for their faith.

Mr. Wang was sentenced to ten years in 2001 and Ms. Zhu was sentenced to seven years in 2002.

Both of them were later arrested again on March 21, 2017, but Ms. Zhu was soon released after the authorities discovered she was pregnant. Her daughter was born on December 8, 2017. She struggled to care for the baby all by herself, as Mr. Wang had been sentenced to three years in prison following their latest arrests. The police kept harassing her at home, and she had to move frequently

Ms. Wang died in July 2022. Mr. Wang was devastated and passed away on April 9, 2023. They were both 51 at the time of their deaths. Their six-year-old daughter is now orphaned.

Mr. Wang, Ms. Zhu, and their daughter

I call on the international community to pay attention to the plight of Falun Gong practitioners in China and help end this atrocious persecution as soon as possible.

Related Reports:

Six-year-old Girl Orphaned in the Persecution of Falun Gong

Henan Man Dies the Day after Being Arrested for Practicing Falun Gong

Husband and Wife Pass Away Three Months Apart in the Persecution of Falun Gong

Husband and Wife Both Pass Away in Early 2023 After Years of Persecution for Their Faith in Falun Gong