China is forbidding families of the five Falungong members who set themselves on fire on Tiananmen Square from visiting them in the hospital, where three - including a 12-year-old girl - remain in critical condition.
The grandmother of the girl, Liu Siying, who was ordered not to give interviews, told journalists that none of the girl's relatives are allowed to travel to Beijing to visit her. "The authorities said no one can see her," said the elderly woman, sounding nervous.
Liu, her mother, another mother and daughter pair and a man, all identified by the Chinese government as Falungong members, doused themselves with petrol and set themselves on fire on 23 January on Tiananmen Square in Beijing, the day before Chinese New Year. Liu's mother Liu Chunling died, while the other four suffered severe burns. All five came from Kaifeng city in central Henan province.
The Chinese government has seized upon the incident as evidence Falungong is an evil cult and has launched a major propaganda campaign against the group's founder, US-based Li Hongzhi, by incessantly showing gory television footage of the five on fire. The government said the five were misguided by Li and set themselves ablaze believing they could reach nirvana, the Buddhist version of heaven.
Falungong is a mix of Buddhist philosophy and Li's own teachings about how to achieve moral and physical superiority
However, a Hong Kong-based human rights group said the five acted in protest against the government's 18-month ban on the group. While allowing government mouthpieces such as Xinhua access to the victims at the hospital, the government has denied foreign and domestic reporters' requests to interview the victims.
Falungong's New York-based office has denied the five were Falungong members, saying the teachings of Li do not encourage suicide. But families of four of the victims contacted by AFP by telephone said the victims were Falungong members.
Falungong is considered the biggest threat to social instability by the Chinese government since the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations.
The government has jailed hundreds of followers and sent tens of thousands to labour camps without trial, while more than 100 have died under police custody, according to rights groups