Anhui 27-year-old woman Sheng Zijie, who was involved in a traffic accident last year and dissatisfied with the way the police handled the traffic dispute, has been advocating for her rights. On April 2 this year, she purchased a high-speed rail ticket at the Nan Station in Chuzhou City, Anhui, preparing to go to Beijing to petition. However, she was arrested by the local police, taken to the Chuzhou Second People’s Hospital (mental hospital), and has been detained there since.
Sheng Zijie, born in 1997, had been working in Nanjing, Jiangsu. One day, she got into a traffic dispute with an elderly lady on her way to work. After the police intervened, she went to work. However, she was dissatisfied with the police’s handling and the subsequent outcome, as her repeated attempts to address the issue with local government departments yielded no results. Therefore, she decided to go to Beijing to petition.
On April 2, 2024, Sheng Zijie bought a high-speed rail ticket at the Nan Station in Chuzhou City, Anhui, in preparation for her petition in Beijing. She was apprehended by the police from Cao Huo Town Police Station in Laian County, Chuzhou City, along with the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee Mao Baozhen, and sent to the Chuzhou Second People’s Hospital (mental hospital). Her family received no notification of her detention.
Sheng Zijie’s grandfather told a reporter from Da Ji Yuan, “Nobody informed us. We only found out when we called Zijie that day, and the local government personnel mentioned that she was sent to a mental hospital for petitioning. No official documents regarding the psychiatric evaluation were shown to us.”
Sheng Zijie was forcibly admitted to the mental hospital without the consent or signature of her family. The Secretary of the Cao Huo Town Party Committee and the Director of the Police Station repeatedly demanded her grandfather’s signature, which was refused. They even threatened and intimidated Sheng Zijie, saying she would continue to be detained if she did not give up her petition.
Her grandfather stated, “I called the Party Secretary Mao Baozhen yesterday, demanding the release of Zijie. He said, ‘We will look into it.’ If they do not release her, we will file a complaint against the government.”
Repeated calls made by a reporter from Da Ji Yuan to the mobile phone of Mao Baozhen, the Secretary of the Cao Huo Town Party Committee in Chuzhou City, Anhui, went unanswered.
Similarly, calls made by the reporter to the Cao Huo Police Station in Chuzhou City, Anhui, were answered, but the other end could not hear the voice of the reporter.
According to a report from the Civil Observation Network, the “Annual Report on Mental Health and Human Rights (Being Subjected to Mental Illness) in China in 2023” reveals through limited case disclosures across various media, the continued severity of the issue of individuals being involuntarily admitted to mental health institutions in China.
The term “Being Subjected to Mental Illness” is a popular term on the internet, referring to the act of interested parties or relevant departments forcibly admitting mentally sound individuals to mental hospitals for treatment due to certain reasons. In China, this behavior is often used as a means for the government to suppress dissenters and petitioners.
The report states that the issue of individuals being subjected to mental illness in China fundamentally stems from the authoritarian system trampling on human rights, ignoring legal norms, and persecuting dissenters, indicating a systemic illness.
On July 4, 2018, a girl from Zhuzhou, Dong Yaoqiong, sprayed ink on a portrait of Xi Jinping while criticizing the authoritarian regime. She was subsequently sent to the Third Hospital in Zhuzhou (a psychiatric hospital) on July 16. Upon her return home on January 2, 2020, Dong Yaoqiong became withdrawn and uncommunicative, in stark contrast to her lively personality before being admitted. From May 20, 2020, to the end of January 2021, Dong Yaoqiong was twice admitted to a psychiatric hospital. In February 2021, she was admitted for the third time, and her current status remains unknown.