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Ding Cuimei was pushed into a ditch and buried alive last week when she attempted to stop the government-ordered demolition of Beitou Church in the central Hena province city of Zhumadian.

The wife of the Rev. Li Jiangong faced off with the demolition team, but they ignored her protest.

Horrified congregants watched helplessly as she was buried under soil and rubble.

According to the charity China Aid orders were handed down to simply go through her.

The non-profit human rights and religious freedom group reported one man as saying “bury them alive for me”.

The same man said he will “be responsible” for their lives and “the government wants to contain the growth of Christianity”.

In the world’s most populous country the government is increasingly persecuting religious minorities, say advocates.

More than two thousand crosses have now been forcefully removed from churches as part of a government campaign to regulate “excessive religious sites”.

The nation’s leadership launched the crusade to eradicate Christianity in the coastal province of Zhejiang almost two years ago.