Tibetan man dies of self-immolation in front of Chinese police station

A Tibetan man set himself alight to protest Chinese government this week at Amchok (Ch: Amuqu) Township in Sangchu ( Ch: Xiahe) County in Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province, in the Tibetan province of Amdo.

According to reports published in exile media, the self-immolation protest was staged by a Tibetan father of two, Sangye Khar, 34, at 9 am (local time) in front of the loca Public Security Bureau office at Amchok Township.  Sangye Khar chose to self-immolate on 16 December, coinciding with the death anniversary of Je Tsongkhapa, the founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. 

Soon after the self-immolation, paramilitary police came and forcibly took away Sangye Khar’s body. He did not survive the self-immolation and died before the arrival of the paramilitary police. Exile Tibetan sources with contacts in the area said local Tibetans suspect that Sangye Khar’s body had been taken to Sangchu County.

Sangye Khar was a resident of Khyung-phu Thang village of Amchok Township and is survived by his parents, Wanglo and Youdon, wife and two daughters. He became the 134th Tibetan to self-immolate since 2009 inside Tibet.