Dharamsala (AsiaNews) - A Tibetan woman from Chone County (Gansu Province) died after setting herself on fire yesterday in protest against the Chinese occupation in Tibet and the restrictive policies of Beijing.
Sangye Tso was 36 years old and mother of two children. She carried out the desperate gesture around 16 (local time) in front of the Chinese security forces headquarters, near the Tashi Choekhorling monastery. Her self-immolation is the fifth since the beginning of 2015, and the 141th in total.
Shortly after her death, the police took her body away, later returning it to her family. Dozens of police officers were deployed in and around the home of the victim.
As reported by Phayul, a website created by Tibetans in exile in India, Tso’s family were shocked yesterday after receiving a voice message on WeChat. The exact words spoken by the woman are still unknown.
Also yesterday, the Tibetan government in exile has organized a prayer service in honor of Tso and Sangye Tenzin Gyatso, the last two Tibetans to have died from self-immolation.
Tenzin Gyatso, 35, set himself on fire last May 21 in protest against the massive deployment of the Chinese armed forces in the county of Tawu, where Tibetans had planned to celebrate the 80th birthday of the Dalai Lama.