(TibetanReview.net, May29, 2015) – A mother of two has died on May 27 in the second protest self-immolation in Chinese ruled Tibet this month, taking the total of such gruesome protesters there since Feb 2009 to 141. The latest incident took place outside a police complex built by the Chinese in a monastery compound in Chone (Chinese: Zhuoni) County of Kanlho (Gannan) Prefecture, Gansu Province. Teachings were going on at the monastery in connection with the Saga Dawa Buddhist festival, said Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) May 27.
Sangye Tso, a 36-year-old mother of two, torched herself around 4am in front of a Chinese security and re-education building located in the compound of Tashi Choekorling Monastery in Choparshing Village, Dorkok Township, said ICT and voatibetanenglish.com May 27.
Various online media and other reports said the woman either burned to death or died in custody of the Chinese police who quickly took her, or her remains, away after the incident.
Following the incident, Chinese police and other officials visited the home of the deceased to conduct an investigation, reported Radio Free Asia (Washington) May 27. ICT cited local sources as saying some of the relatives of the deceased were detained by the paramilitary People’s Armed Police Force.
The woman is survived by her husband Tamdin Wangyal, son Tsering Dhondub and daughter Khatso. A message sent on Chinese social media indicated that family and friends had been concerned about Sangye Tso after she left a message prior to her self-immolation, speaking about the current situation in Tibet, said the ICT statement.
As happens after every such incident, China rushed security forces to the protest area, cut off all communication links, and imposed tight restrictions on the movement of the local residents, rendering the obtaining of any further information impossible.
This was the first protest self-immolation incident in Chone. The area has seen protests by Tibetans during the 2008 Tibetan uprising and it led to each of the 400 monks of Choekorling Monastery being fined 5,000 yuan by the authorities, said the voatibetanenglish.com report. It added that three of its monks were jailed for 15 years each while some lay people were also believed to be still in jail for their involvement in the 2008 protests.
Before Sangye Tso, Tenzin Gyatso, a 35-year-old father of four, had set himself on fire and died on May 20 in Khangsar Township of Tawu (Daofu) County in Karze (Ganzi) Prefecture, Sichuan province.