Sichuan Man Incapacitated After Serving Four Years for Practicing Falun Gong, Dies Three Years Later

(Minghui.org)

Name: Deng Weiyong Chinese Name: 邓维勇 Gender: Male Age: 57 City: Chengdu Province: Sichuan Occupation: N/A Date of Death: September 27, 2025 Date of Most Recent Arrest: May 5, 2018 Most Recent Place of Detention: Jiazhou Prison

Mr. Deng Weiyong was incontinent, suffered memory loss, and had an IQ of a toddler when he completed a four-year prison term on May 10, 2022, for practicing Falun Gong. The Chengdu City, Sichuan Province, resident remained wheelchair-bound, incapacitated, and confused. He died three years later, on September 27, 2025. He was 57.

Since the Chinese Communist Party ordered the persecution of Falun Gong in July 1999, Mr. Deng, born on November 11, 1967, was repeatedly targeted for upholding his faith. He was arrested multiple times between 1999 and 2001. After another arrest on February 7, 2002, he was given two and a half years of forced labor. He served time at the Xinhua Forced Labor Camp and was released on May 26, 2003.

Mr. Deng was frequently harassed between May 5 and 17, 2017. The police questioned him about whether he went out to distribute Falun Gong informational materials. Two officers staked out outside his home for the entire day on May 13, 2017. The next day, the property management office stopped his power supply for five hours.

Mr. Deng’s last arrest was on May 5, 2018. He was sentenced to four years with a 10,000-yuan fine on December 26, 2019, and admitted to Jiazhou Prison in Leshan City in June 2020. His family was only allowed to see him virtually from time to time.

Mr. Deng spent the last eight months of his term in three different hospitals after he lost consciousness at a torture session on September 1, 2021. He fell into critical condition on October 3, 2021. When his family rushed to the hospital, there were more than 60 police officers patrolling outside. Inside the emergency department, there were over 20 other officers guarding Mr. Deng. They had been waiting for him to take his last breath and were ready to stop his family from taking his body. They didn’t allow his family to whisper in his ears as they wanted to monitor every bit of the conversation.

Mr. Deng was handcuffed and shackled to a hospital bed with IV drips. His family noted a gash on his forehead stitched up, with blood stains visible. He had dark circles under his eyes and a black bruise on his left eye, likely from being punched. There was also dried blood on his arms. There was a hole in his left pant leg and a few dried blood clots on his pants. His legs were very thin and red. There was no good skin on the soles of his feet, which had thick calluses and blood stains just like his hands.

Only 54 at the time, Mr. Deng looked like someone in his 70s or 80s. He was asleep when his family walked in. They woke him up and noted that he kept complaining about feeling thirsty even after drinking several glasses of water. Five of his loved ones were allowed inside the room, and he could only recognize his older brother. He did not even recognize his wife.

While the prison guard on duty said they had sent people to get food for Mr. Deng, nothing was ever delivered to him. The guard also prohibited Mr. Deng from eating the food his family bought for him.

Mr. Deng’s family requested medical parole but was repeatedly rejected. He survived and was transferred to the Shuangliu District Airport Prisoner Ward Hospital in Chengdu on October 4, 2021. His loved ones were then told he had schizophrenia and was given antipsychotic medications. As a veteran, he was always very healthy and had no history of mental illness. His family suspected that the new diagnosis was either a new tactic to subject him to nerve-damaging drugs or a result of the horrific torture he went through.

Around mid-January 2022, Mr. Deng was transferred to the Jintang Hospital, where he served the last few months of his term. His family was notified on February 28, 2022, that he had just been issued a critical condition notice due to schizophrenia. That afternoon, his family was allowed to have a video call with him. They saw that he couldn’t stand or walk and had to stay in a wheelchair. When he opened his mouth, they were shocked to see all his teeth were gone. He had a hat on, and his family suspected that it was likely to cover any wounds on his head. He appeared dazed and confused, with slurred speech.

Mr. Deng’s term ended on May 10, 2022. When his family went to the Jintang Hospital to pick him up, he could not walk and remained incapacitated. His younger brother carried him out of the police car.

Mr. Deng continued to suffer memory decline and cognitive impairment after he was released. His family reported him having an IQ of a toddler. He was weak all over, unable to sit still. He was also incontinent.

His family took him to more than ten hospitals in the past two-plus years, incurring hundreds of thousands of yuan in medical bills. He was diagnosed with a total of 16 different diseases, including stroke, epilepsy, and diabetes. His hair was thinning and graying. He was also in a confused state most of the time and sometimes mumbled to himself.

While asleep, Mr. Deng often shouted, “Unlock the handcuffs and shackles and untie the rope! Don’t hit my knee with the rock! I don’t want to take the pills!”

Despite the treatment, Mr. Deng had almost no improvement, and the police still came a few times to harass him. He eventually passed away on September 27, 2025.

Sichuan Man Incapacitated After Serving Four Years for Practicing Falun Gong, Dies Three Years Later