In March 2000, Dafa practitioner Zhang Zigen, female,Zhangjiakou City, Hebei Province, was illegally detained because she went to Beijing to safeguard the Fa. She was detained in the Xuanhua Detention Center in Zhangjiakou City. To protest the illegal treatment, Ms. Zhang held a 17-day hunger strike, during which she had to sleep on the cold cement floor. As a result, her legs were paralyzed, and part of her body tissue was afflicted with necrosis. The police ignored the terrible condition she was in and didn't give her any treatment. Later, she lost one leg through amputation.

On October 7, 2000, the disabled Zhang went to Beijing another time to validate Dafa. She was again arrested and sent to the Xuanhua Detention Center. Because of her physical handicap, the detention center did not want to let her in, but the city government's political and legal committee ordered the detention center to receive her. Five to six days later, Zhang was dying and thus sent home. Ms. Zhang passed away on February 25, 2001.