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Three members of a sect of Christianity that mostly aligns with Protestantism claim they were tortured with sound.
Bitter Winter, an online magazine focused on human rights violations in China, reports the members are part of the Church of Almighty God, which is banned in China.
Bitter Winter reported several of its members were arrested and tortured in prison with sound.
The report said it's "a form of psychological warfare used to break people’s will using loud music or other noises."
"Law enforcement authorities in China often employ this method on people of faith because it doesn’t leave visible injuries but damages them mentally."
The report said the prolonged sound torture may produce devastating psychological and even physical effects.
"Subjected to this inhumane treatment, people continue to feel severe dizziness, headaches, fatigue, emotional instability, memory loss, absent-mindedness, and insomnia. Tortures may also cause cardiovascular problems, like increased blood pressure and heart palpitations, and digestive or respiratory issues."
The Church of Almighty God members recounted their experiences to Bitter Winter.
One "was arrested in 2014 and sent to a legal education center where she was kept in solitary confinement and often subjected to sound torture."
Videos attacking the CAG were played at maximum volume from morning to night on a TV she was forced to sit next to.
She soon had ringing in her ears, felt dazed and suffered irregular heartbeats, abnormal sweating and a splitting headache.
"Unable to withstand the noise, indoctrination personnel often left the room but returned from time to time to check on the believer. They would make loud noises behind her back, frightening her even more, pushing the woman to the brink of a mental breakdown," the report said.
"It’s hard to describe this feeling of distress when every minute seems very long," the religious believer told Bitter Winter. "I felt overwhelmed, crying in bed every night. I wanted to die, felt like committing suicide. I was pondering what I could use to hang myself or cut my wrists. I also thought of knocking my head against the wall but was afraid that it would not be enough to kill me. How I wished not to wake up!"
Other victims of the torture reported similar experiences.
One said she lost one-fourth of her body weight during her detention and torture.
Bitter Winter reported the sect, also known as Eastern Lightning, has been growing rapidly since its founding in the 1990s.
More than 100 of its members have died while in prison or as a result of police mistreatment.
There also have been reports of "organ harvesting" targeting sect members.
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