Ministry Urges Call for Investigation into Chinese Christian's Death
by Allie Martin
December 20, 2004
(AgapePress) - The family of a Chinese woman who died in police custody after being arrested for distributing Bibles is pushing for an investigation into the incident.Last June, 34-year-old Jiang Zongxiu went to her neighborhood market, handing out Bibles and Christian literature. While there, Jiang encountered Chinese police, who arrested her and her mother-in-law. Both women were taken to the police station, interrogated, and sentenced to 15 days for "suspected spreading of rumor and disturbing the social order."
However, that night Jiang was separated from other prisoners. Hours later, her family members were contacted by officials, who told them Jiang had died of a sudden illness. Todd Nettleton with Voice of the Martyrs says information from the mother-in-law contradicts that report.
"That night Sister Jiang was literally beaten to death by the police," Nettleton claims. "At one point, the ladies were separated and then they were brought back together, and Sister Jiang told her mother-in-law that she was in a lot of pain, that she had been abused [and] beaten. Then the ladies were separated again -- and that was the last time any of her family saw her alive."
Voice of the Martyrs reports it has received video testimony from the surviving family, photos of Jiang's bruised body, and a copy of the actual arrest document -- all of which had to be smuggled out of China.
The VOM spokesman says authorities continue to attempt to hide their systematic persecution of Jiang and other believers. "One of the policemen said to the family [that] they don't even need to do an autopsy [because] it's very clear she was beaten to death," he explains. "And in fact, the family is very convinced that she was beaten to death by the police."
Jiang's family is undertaking an international campaign in an effort to discover what really happened while the young woman was in custody. "They are pressing the Chinese government to do a second autopsy that will hopefully show the true cause of death," Nettleton states. He encourages believers in the U.S. to write to the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, demanding at investigation into Jiang's death.
