Born in 1932 Ghortsa village, Nyarong, Kham, Adhe Tapontsang was arrested on October 16, 1958. Sentenced to 16 years imprisonment, she subsequently spent 21 years in labour camps. In 1985 she managed to escape to Nepal and now lives in Dharamsala. She was separated from her children.

Adhe was arrested, together with her sister’s husband on October 16 1958, by 6 policemen. In her account she speaks of how her two children had been with her, and that as the Chinese police tied her roughly,  her daughter laughed, thinking it was a game. Her son, who was 3 years old at the time, would call her name and jump up at her, each time being pushed back and kicked by the Chinese officers.  He ran to her crying as she was escorted to prison but was kicked away by the police.

Adhe’s son became mentally disturbed after her imprisonment and later died by jumping into a river.

Adhe recalls that “I was taken to the Karze District (Sichuan Province) Prison and was thrown into the vehicle like luggage. During the interrogation, policemen kicked me and hit me all over my body with rifle-butts. They also forced me to kneel on two sharpened pieces of wood, with my hands raised.  They hit my elbows with a rifle-butt whenever my hands came down and I became very weak due to heavy beatings. 
My husband and I were charged with being the key rebels in the Nyarong area (Sichuan Province)”

Forced to watch her sister’s husband as he was shot dead, she was told  “the consequence will be the same for you if you revolt against the Chinese Communists”. 

Adhe was sentenced to a 16-year prison term.

!n 1959, she was moved from Karze Prison to Dhartsedo Prison, which was formerly Ngachen Monastery, once the biggest monastery in the Dhartsedo area (it’s religious monuments and sacred relics moved to China). People held here included Geshes and Lamas; Adhe stated that some rooms were packed with 300 woman and 500 laymen.

Adhe recalls how “We had to labour every day. 
In this prison, young and more attractive women were called by the prison warden, Trang Tsong, to clean his quarters and do his laundry. These women included Ngangtso Wangmo Lithang, Dolkar Chatring, Yangchen Chatring and me. We were all summoned in rotation and raped”.

She speaks of how the food was of poor quality and  served in tea cup sizes. Chinese officials would watch and laugh as they battled over left overs.

In 1960, she was one of 100 healthy female prisoners selected to go to Golthok Lead Mines in Chajam district. She recalls how there were 10 to 15 thousand Tibetan prisoners working there. Conditions were harsh and the work was difficult. Adhe recalls that doctors eventually arrived and took blood. Being weak, the woman fainted and some died. Adhe remembered a day where she fainted and when she regained consciousness, found herself in a morgue.

Sent to a vegetable farm in 1966, she received better food which caused her to wonder why they where being treated better. The women were forced to cut their hair short in Chinese style, their Tibetan dresses taken away, and given Chinese clothes to wear instead. For speaking Tibetan they were sent for "mind transformation" classes.

In 1974, she was called to the office and told her 16 year sentence had been terminated. The sentence had run its full course. However, she was told “you will be marked as a political outcast” . Adhe was told that she had not undergone proper ‘mental transformation’, and was ordered to work as a labourer in a brick factory. She was not allowed to socialize and had to work even during leisure hours.

In 1979, she was removed from the list of “black-capped” ones and in 1985, Adhe managed to escape China to Nepal. She now lives in Dharamsala, India.

Adhe's book recounting her experiences, 'The Voice that Remembers' can be read online here and purchased through Wisdom Publications at this link.