Looking at the smiling faces on a picture hanging on the wall of a four-room apartment, 78-year-old Huo Xiuzhen feels as if a knife has pierced her heart: the smiling faces could never smile again.

Huo is the adoptive mother of Liu Chunling, 36, a Falun Gong practitioner who set herself on fire and was burnt to death on January 23, the eve of the traditional Chinese Lunar New Year. Liu's 12-year-old daughter Liu Siying also suffered from the same ordeal. The girl, with severe burns on face, head and hands, is now hospitalized in Beijing.

"I have never thought that Siying's life would be ruined by her mother," said Huo.

Liu Chunling had lived with her adoptive mother and daughter since she divorced in 1989.

"She treated me well at the beginning," recalled Huo. "But our quiet life was changed two years ago when she became obsessed with Falun Gong."

Liu Chunling no longer cared for her daughter but worshipped the portrait of Li Hongzhi, the Falun Gong founder, everyday. She repeated what Li said to her daughter and taught the little girl to practice Falun Gong.

"My daughter began to quarrel with me, and even tried to drive me away from home," said Huo, who brought Liu up.

"Li Hongzhi and his Falun Gong have done people great harm," said Huo, "They have ruined my daughter and grand-daughter."

Liu Siying, without eyesight currently, is not informed of her mother's death yet.

(China Central Television 2001/02/01)