A father of one has become the 91st Tibetan to carry out protest self-immolation against the Chinese government since February 2009 in Tibet.
Sungdue Kyap, 29, set himself on fire at around 3 pm (local time) on 2 December on highway no. 213 near Bora Monastery in Sangchu (Ch: Xiahe) County in Kanlho (Ch: Gannan) Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province.
It is the same spot where on 20 October, a father of two, Lhamo Kyap, 27, died of protest self-immolation.
Sungdue Kyap, whose age is unknown at the moment, burned himself alive when the monks were attending scripture classes at the monastery. Some local Tibetans who were at the monastery for circumambulation saw Kyap in flames.
When Kyap saw the armed police and security forces permanently stationed at the monastery moving towards him, he banged his head hard against a wall so that the police could not detain him alive.
The armed police later took a badly bloodied and burnt Kyap to the government hospital in Kanlho Prefecture. At the time of reporting, armed police have surrounded the hospital and Kyap’s family members are not allowed to visit him. It is not known whether Kyap had survived the protest self-immolation.
Sungdue Kyap is from Dardo Village in Bora Township. His father’s name is Tseba and his mother’s name is Bhendey Tso. His wife is Dukar Kyi and he has a son named Kalsang Tsering who will be two soon.