Tibetan teen self-immolates in eastern Tibet, toll reaches 149
By Lobsang Tenchoe
DHARAMSALA, May 9: A teenage Tibetan boy has set himself on fire on May 2 in Bora township in the traditional Tibetan province of Amdo.
Chagdor Kyap, aged 16 set himself on fire near Bora monastery in protest against Chinese rule in Tibet.
The teenager was heard shouting slogans such as ‘Freedom for Tibet’ and ‘His Holiness the Dalai Lama should be allowed to return to Tibet’.
While his body was engulfed in fire, he tried to run towards a Chinese government building in the township but collapsed after taking few steps. Chinese authorities quickly whisked away his charred body after dousing off the flame.
His condition and whereabouts the fiery protest remain unknown as Chinese authorities have beefed up security in the region. Son of Zoepa and Dolma Tso, who are farmers from Bora, Chagdor Kyap is a middle school student.
He is the 149th Tibetan known to have self-immolated inside Tibet since 2009 and the third in 2017. All the Tibetan self-immolators have called for freedom to be restored in Tibet and His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s return to Tibet.
