DHARAMSHALA: The body of Drupchen Tsering, the 25-year-old Tibetan who self-immolated in Kathmandu this February, is still in Nepalese government’s custody.
A senior Nepalese police officer told The Himalayan News Service on 10 March that only the concerned family members had the legal rights to receive the body of any deceased as per the existing law. The 35-day official deadline to hand over the body is over. All efforts are being made to obtain his body by Tibetan leadership and community in Nepal in order to perform the last rites.
Drupchen Tsering, a monk, and a native of Gyalchug village in Nupsur township of Serta region in Kardze in eastern Tibet, reached Nepal in January this year after leaving Tibet. He set himself on fire in front of the landmark Bouddhanath Stupa in Kathmandu on 13 February. Nepalese police immediately came to the scene of the self-immolation and took him away to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. He later succumbed to his injuries at 10:30 pm (1645 GMT), AFP news agency reported.
Dr Lobsang Sangay, the political leader of the Tibetan people, had expressed sadness about the self-immolation in Nepal and said the Tibetan administration asked Tibetans not to take drastic actions. “The occupation of Tibet and repression of Tibetans are the primary reason for the self-immolations inside Tibet. The solution to the tragedy in Tibet lies with Beijing, and my administration is fully committed to dialogue and to address the issue peacefully,” Dr Sangay told The New York Times.