(TibetanReview.net, Dec 24, 2014) – A 19 or 20-year-old woman has died on Dec 22 in yet another Tibetan self-immolation protest against Chinese rule, bringing the total this year to 10 and since Feb 2009 to 135. Tseypey Kyi torched herself around 2:30 PM in the middle of Meruma township market in Ngaba (Chinese: Aba) County, Sichuan Province, and burned to death, said several exile Tibetan media reports Dec 22.
A ghastly picture of the scorched remain of the deceased is posted online with most of the reports. Chinese police were reported to have reached the spot within minutes and to have taken away the body. A video of the woman burning, with a voice in the background chanting prayers, has been circulating on social media.
The reports said the deceased was a resident of the 4th Meruma Township and belonged to the Chudotsang family. Chinese police have taken away the girl’s 60-year-old father, 50-year-old mother, and brother Yime, although it was not clear whether they were detained.
Tsepey Kyi, the fourth of six siblings, had received no formal schooling and grew up helping to herd her family’s cattle.
Further details about the incident and the situation thereafter remain difficult to obtain due to China’s security clampdown, including with snapping of communication lines after every such incident.
Before Tseypey Kyi, Sangay Khar, a 34-year-old Tibetan father of two daughters, torched himself and died on Dec 16 before a police station in Amchok (Amuqu) Town of Sangchu (Xiahe) County in Kanlho (Gannan) Prefecture, Gansu Province.
And Sangay Kar’s self-immolation came three months after Konchog, a 42-year-old father of two, burned himself in front of a police station in Gade (Gande) County of Golog (Guoluo) Prefecture, Qinghai Province, on Sep 16. The next day, a 22-year-old student named Lhamo Tashi carried out a similar ghastly protest action in front of the headquarters of Kanlho Prefecture in Tsoe (Hezuo) City, Gansu Province.