A 20-year-old Tibetan woman died after setting fire to herself outside a Buddhist monastery in the latest of more than 100 similar protests in Tibetan areas of western China.
The woman, identified by the single name Chugtso, self-immolated on Tuesday at the Jonang monastery in Rangtang county, or Dzamthang in Tibetan, in the restive Ngaba area of Sichuan province, London-based Free Tibet and US-based Radio Free Asia said.
Hundreds of Tibetans gathered later Tuesday at the monastery and at the family home of Chugtso, who was the mother of a 3-year-old child, the reports quoted exiled Tibetans with local contacts as saying.
"Her self-immolation was in protest against China's repressive policies in Tibet," the broadcaster quoted Tsangyang Gyatso, an exiled Tibetan based in India, as saying.
About 116 Tibetans have set fire to themselves in China since 2009, most of them in the past two years. Many of the previous self-immolations were in Ngaba.
Tuesday's self-immolation was the first reported this month.
"The intensity of self-immolation protests has diminished so far in 2013 but the death of Jugtso (Chugtso) shows that even the full force of the Chinese state cannot deter some Tibetans from this act," Free Tibet spokesman Alistair Currie said.
Protests were likely to continue "until China addresses the grievances of the Tibetan people," Currie said.Author: Bill Smith
Young Tibetan mother dies in self-immolation protest
A 20-year-old Tibetan woman died after setting fire to herself outside a Buddhist monastery in the latest of more than 100 similar protests in Tibetan areas of western China.
The woman, identified by the single name Chugtso, self-immolated on Tuesday at the Jonang monastery in Rangtang county, or Dzamthang in Tibetan, in the restive Ngaba area of Sichuan province, London-based Free Tibet and US-based Radio Free Asia said.
Hundreds of Tibetans gathered later Tuesday at the monastery and at the family home of Chugtso, who was the mother of a 3-year-old child, the reports quoted exiled Tibetans with local contacts as saying.
"Her self-immolation was in protest against China's repressive policies in Tibet," the broadcaster quoted Tsangyang Gyatso, an exiled Tibetan based in India, as saying.
About 116 Tibetans have set fire to themselves in China since 2009, most of them in the past two years. Many of the previous self-immolations were in Ngaba.
Tuesday's self-immolation was the first reported this month.
"The intensity of self-immolation protests has diminished so far in 2013 but the death of Jugtso (Chugtso) shows that even the full force of the Chinese state cannot deter some Tibetans from this act," Free Tibet spokesman Alistair Currie said.
Protests were likely to continue "until China addresses the grievances of the Tibetan people," Currie said.Author: Bill Smith
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