Dharamshala: - A Tibetan monk reportedly died early Tuesday morning after setting himself on fire near the Boudhanath shrine, one of the holiest Buddhist sites in Kathmandu, Nepal to protest Chinese repressive rule of the Himalayan region of Tibet.
The police official Manoj Chetri told The Washington Post that they were investigating but have not been able to identify him beyond that he is a Buddhist monk.
According to latest sources, the monk was identified as Karma Ngedhon Gyatso, a 39-year old from Dhamshong area of Nagchu County, Central Tibet (Chinese: Nagchu Prefecture of the Tibet Autonomous Region), who escaped from Tibet in 2012. It appears the Monk succumbed to his injuries and passed away.
"The monk set himself ablaze near the Boudhanath shrine in the northeastern edge of Katmandu on early Tuesday morning, August 6, 2013 (7am local time) in an apparent protest against Chinese repressive rule in Tibet and immediately after the incident, his body was removed by Nepal authorities. ," Thupten living in Nepal told The Tibet Post International (TPI).
Ngedhon Gyatso was taken to the Tribhuwan University hospital in critical condition with much of his body burned. Officials said Nepal Police and residents put out the flames with fire extinguishers and rushed him to the hospital.
A photo received from the capital of Nepal showed his body completely burned to a crisp, while another photo shows crowds gathering at the site before his body was removed.
It is the second self-immolation of a Tibetan in Nepal this year. The Tibetan monk Drupchen Tsering who self-immolated in February died and the Nepalese Government did not return his body to Tibetan refugees living in Nepal.
Since 1998. seven exile Tibetans have set themselves on fire in India and Nepal in an escalating wave of protest against Beijing's rule in Tibet. Four of them reportedly died later, succumbing to their injuries.
At least 120 Tibetans have self-immolated in Tibet since 2009 to protest against the same hardline and repressive rule and of them 103 were reportedly passed-away from their severe burn injuries.
Tibetan self-immolators have called for the return of the spiritual leader of Tibet, His Holiness the Dalai Lama to his homeland and freedom for Tibetans inside Tibet.
