"A policeman named Tian beat me with an electric baton inside the Supreme People's Court compound last year. The Yongdingmen police are now cracking down on petitioners that come to Beijing and in Baishan they threatened to throw me in an insanity asylum if I cause any more trouble," Du said.
Before last month's meeting of the NPC, a park-like area near the Yongdingmen train station had become known as "complaints village" for the amount of people camped out in cardboard huts or in the open air waiting to table complaints to the government.
But the area was largely "cleaned up" last month with thousands of petitioners being hauled off to a gymnasium in western Beijing where they were processed and forcefully sent back to their hometowns.
During the NPC, thousands of petitioners daily gathered in the area in front of the State Council complaint's bureau to table petitions, but this week no more than 15 people were seen milling about at any given time.
Now only a few people gather at the former "complaints village," with many of their grievances involving unsolved killings of loved ones.
"I've been sleeping on the street under an underpass because to sleep here [in the village] the police will catch you and send you back," said Qian Lili, 40, from Shandong's Zibo city.
Qian's eight-year-old son was murdered by her ex-husband's new wife in 1999, but the crime was not punished due to a plea of insanity which Qian says is bogus.
"You have to stay in Beijing to complain because there are so many ministries and departments. You can complain at the State Council, Supreme People's Court, All China's Women's Federation, National People's Congress and the Supreme People's Procuratorate," she said.
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