DHARAMSHALA: Further details have emerged about the self-immolator protester who set himself on fire on Thusday in Machu country of Tibet’s Amdo province.
Tashi Rabten, 33, known to his friends and family as Tarab, is a former monk from Teushel village in Machu County, Kanlho, eastern Tibet. He succumbed to his injuries.
According to sources, Tashi Rabten’s wife and two children have been taken into custody. A number of his other relatives have also been detained after approaching the authorities to ask for his body for cremation.
Images and video footages in circulation show Tashi Rabten walking down a street on fire. A later video shows security personnel lifting and removing the body.
Further information reveal that Tashi Rabten is the cousin of Tsering Kyi, a 20-year old student who died after carrying out a self-immolation protest in Machu in 2012. Both the self-immolations took place at the same spot.
This is the 145th self-immolation in Tibet since 2009.