China Says Woman Had Injury Before Self-immolation

Last updated on: March 7, 2012 at 2:04 am by

China Says Woman Had Injury Before Self-immolation 2012-03-07T02:04:46-07:00

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BEIJING (AP) — China’s state news agency confirmed Wednesday that a 20-year-old Tibetan woman died after setting herself on fire but said it may have been a result of depression caused by a head injury.

Tibetan areas in China are on edge and under heavy security. More than two dozen Tibetans have set themselves on fire in China over the last year to protest what they say is China’s suppression of their religion and culture, and to demand the return of the exiled Dalai Lama.

China has confirmed some of the incidents, and says Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and groups outside the country are behind the protests and self-immolations.

In the latest case, the official Xinhua News Agency quoted local officials in Gansu province as saying that Tsering Kyi had been hospitalized after hitting her head on a radiator and suffered fainting spells prior to setting herself on fire. Activist groups had earlier reported that she died on Saturday.

Xinhua said her school grades started to slip, “which put a lot of pressure on her and made her lose her courage for life and study.”

Tsering was one of three people reported by overseas Tibetan activist groups and a U.S.-based broadcaster to have set themselves on fire since the weekend.

On Monday, an 18-year-old identified only as Dorje died after setting himself ablaze near a government office in Jia township, in Sichuan province’s Aba prefecture, according to Radio Free Asia. Local government and Communist Party offices said they hadn’t received any notice of an immolation or did not answer the phone. The Washington-based International Campaign for Tibet also reported Dorje’s death.

Radio Free Asia had also reported Tsering’s death, and that of a 32-year-old woman with four young children who self-immolated in Aba on Sunday. Tibetan areas are mostly off-limits to foreign media and it was not possible to independently confirm the claims.

This is a sensitive time for Tibet, and for all of China. China’s annual legislative session, a time when security is tightened across the country, began Monday. March is also when Tibetans mark significant anniversaries, including that of the unsuccessful 1959 revolt that caused the Dalai Lama to flee, and deadly anti-government riots that rocked the Tibetan capital Lhasa in 2008.

China says it treats minority groups such as Tibetans fairly, and pours tens of billions of dollars into improving living conditions in their areas.

The self-proclaimed government in exile issued a statement from its base in Dharamshala, India, appealing to the Chinese government to address the grievances of Tibetans.

“We also appeal to the governments and the international community to make urgent representations to the Chinese government to end the tragic cycle of self-immolation in Tibet by adopting liberal polices in Tibet,” Kalon Dicki Chhoyang, department of Information & International Relations of the Central Tibetan Administration, said in an emailed statement.

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