Shanghai human rights activist Mao Hengfeng’s home is forcibly demolished, she is arrested while protesting with a placard.

Shanghai well-known rights activist Maoheng Feng has been fighting for justice for his mother, an Anti-Japanese War hero, in a medical dispute for over twenty years, and the case remains unsolved. Recently, a new incident has been added to the ongoing struggle. On March 16, her house on Hangzhou Road in Yangpu District was illegally demolished without prior notice. Despite reporting to the police, they refused to file a case.

Maoheng Feng had no choice but to come to Shanghai City Government Plaza to protest with a sign. However, she faced inhumane treatment by the police.

The house at No. 3, Lane 433, Hangzhou Road in Shanghai is Maoheng Feng’s only private property. On the morning of March 16, it was forcibly demolished without any official announcement, leaving her in shock.

Maoheng Feng called 110 for help and went to Daqiao Police Station in her district to report the incident. However, the police station refused to provide a report and did not file a case, citing it as a “judicial forced relocation.”

Maoheng Feng told a reporter, “My house on Hangzhou Road was demolished without any prior notice or court personnel present. The police’s failure to file a case completely disregards the impartial position they should uphold in protecting citizens who have suffered harm.”

She pointed out that this forced relocation completely violated Articles 18, 20, and 43 of the Administrative Compulsory Law, which stipulates the procedures that administrative authorities should follow, such as not conducting operations during holidays, notifying the parties involved, and presenting law enforcement identification.

Maoheng Feng recounted the events of that day: early on March 16, her brother Maoheng Zhou was still asleep while her nephew was stopped by security guards on the way to buy breakfast. His phone was taken, and he was taken to a location where his freedom was restricted. Her sister-in-law was on the street, grabbed and her bag taken, along with the house keys, restricting her freedom. The demolition team used the keys to open her house’s door and took the sleeping Maoheng Zhou away, also restricting his freedom.

At noon, Maoheng Feng called the phones of her brother and his family, but all were turned off. She said, “As I was returning home (at the intersection of Hangzhou Road and Songpan Road), I saw several police cars parked by the roadside and several yellow trucks at the entrance of my alley, transferring items. When I reached the intersection, I was intercepted and taken to the relocation company’s meeting room.”

“After being released, I hurried to the entrance of my alley at home, but the security guards did not allow me in. I saw a bulldozer smashing and digging my house, turning it into ruins. I called 110 to report, then went to Daqiao Police Station, where I made a statement. However, the police station did not provide a report or file a case.”

With her private property demolished, Maoheng Feng was too furious to sleep. On the afternoon of the 17th, she went to Shanghai City Government to seek justice, but was intercepted at the entrance by standing police officers who took away the paper she was holding with “My home was forcibly relocated” written on it. She was then taken to the People’s Square Police Station in a police car, where the police interrogated her, accusing her of disrupting public order for protesting under the red flag at the Shanghai City Government gate. She responded, “My private house was forcibly demolished, and I came to seek the city leaders for justice. If the city leaders see me standing there without knowing what happened to me, that’s why I held the sign ‘My home was demolished.'”

Later, she was taken by five police officers from Daqiao Police Station to a small dark room for detention. In the evening around 6 o’clock, she was taken by the police, with her hands cuffed, to a surveillance management center in Yangpu District. She demanded legal procedures as she was being detained like a criminal, but the police replied, “You can request that over there.”

Inside was the strict surveillance management center of Yangpu District Public Security Bureau in Shanghai. Despite her request for legal procedures, the police ignored her and asked her to sign on the computer, which she firmly refused. She was then taken behind a metal door where two female officers forcibly undressed her for a full body check, violating her dignity without any legal basis.

She expressed, “Such acts that violate personal rights and dignity without any legal procedures by the police, where is human rights in this?”

She was then asked to put on prisoner’s clothing, but she defiantly refused, proclaiming her innocence. She was then taken to an interrogation room, where two police officers from Daqiao Police Station questioned her, accusing her of disrupting public order by protesting under the red flag at the Shanghai City Government earlier that day. She remained silent, giving zero testimony and refusing to sign.

After about an hour of interrogation, she was taken back to Daqiao Police Station. Maoheng Feng insisted on being provided legal procedures for being detained and humiliated, but the police station refused. She was only released back home around midnight.

Recalling the incident, Maoheng Feng is still filled with indignation. She said, “My private property was forcibly demolished, a serious crime akin to robbery, and yet no one takes responsibility. I wasn’t given a police report despite reporting the incident; they refused to file a case. As an ordinary citizen, I have no power to protect myself but was handcuffed, strip-searched, and subjected to a humiliating trial. Where is justice in this world?”