A Falun Gong devotee choked her
nine-year-old daughter to death while trying to exorcise a
"demon" from the girl's body in Yichun, northeast
China's Heilongjiang Province.
Guan
Shuyun, 44, killed her daughter, Dai Nan, in their home on
April 22 as about 40 other Falun Gong practitioners stood
by.
Guan began to practise Falun Gong in
April 1997. She was sentenced to labor education after
engaging in illegal cult activities in July 2000, and was
released ahead of the due date in
February 2001.
After returning home, she pretended to
give up Falun Gong, but actually kept close contact with
other cult members and continued to "develop" her
so-called "inner spirit", Guan admitted.
On April 19, Guan started to invite about 40
Falun Gong practitioners from other cities in the province
to gather at her home. She told them she would like to share
a few thoughts.
On the morning of April
22, Guan refused to allow her daughter to go to school,
saying the girl had been possessed by demon, which had to be
exorcised immediately.
Guan lifted Dai Nan
on to a bed, and asked her sternly, "Who are you? Where
are you from? And how much evil have you done?"
Guan kept slapping her daughter on the face, and
asked others to join in the beating despite the girl begging
for it to stop.
When Dai
Nan cried for help, Guan said the demon was speaking. Guan
then began to clutch Dai's throat tightly and asked other
Falun Gong members to come forward and hold Dai still.
With Guan fiercely clutching her
daughter's throat, no one dared to stop her for fear of
being possessed by the demon. Some just knelt down, some
retreated to the corner and some just stood
by
looking.
Guan also forbade
others to come close to her daughter. She said if the child
was moved, the demon would move out again and prevent them
from "flying to heaven."
When
Dai Keqin, Guan's husband came back, he found their daughter
dead, but Guan called on others to tie Dai Keqin. Until
noon, Dai escaped from the house and reported the case to
the
police.
Before Guan began to
practise Falun Gong, she and her husband had a good living
by selling salted vegetables. They led a contented life with
their daughter.
However, after Guan began
practising Falun Gong, her family's well-being was totally
ruined. She no longer went to sell goods and gave up on the
daily chores, and frequently quarreled with her husband.
"It is Falun Gong that has killed my
daughter," said Dai Keqin,crying as he spoke to Xinhua.
"Even shooting all of them could not vent my
anger."
The People's Daily, China's
leading newspaper, will carry a commentary titled
"Falun Gong has no humanity" on May 13, denouncing
the tragedy and Falun Gong. Enditem
 Xinhuanet 2002-05-12