A 46-year-old woman from Jiangxi, China is protesting that local officials forced her to be sterilized, allegedly out of revenge for petitioning authorities.

Mao Yuanchun had petitioned the local government earlier this year about the death of her daughter. Mao says the daughter died in a fight with her boyfriend, who was later ordered to pay $6,260 (40,000 yuan) in compensation with no jail time.

Mao told VOA that she was subsequently taken to a clinic, dragged onto an operating table, and forcibly sterilized.

Mao's husband, Peng Wuju, also spoke to VOA. He said his wife sat down on the floor to try to prevent the procedure, but was grabbed by officials and dragged through six or seven rooms to the operating table.

“…I hadn't gotten home. They took my wife and they were warning me, saying that you could still have children.' They said it like that… There are no children. She's already sterile. We went for a check-up, and she wasn't pregnant. No pregnancies and they said they wanted to sterilize. My wife said, I can't get pregnant, why sterilize me?' He said it's not enough for you to say it, you have to prove it.' She said if you don't believe me, what can I do?… So they forced her to get it done.”

Mao says that after her family protested her treatment, the local government offered to pay her medical bills.

Her husband said the family was forced to accept the compensation and an apology.

Mao says she is still in some pain, but will not be going back to a doctor.