Tibetan monk calling for return of Dalai Lama burns himself to death in China

Dharamshala, Aug 16 (ANI): A 29-year-old Tibetan monk died after setting himself on fire in south-west China, in a call for return of spiritual leader Dalai Lama.

Tsewang Norbu doused himself with petrol and set himself on fire at a monastery in Tawu, the Guardian reports.

"Tsewang Norbu drank petrol, sprayed petrol on himself and then set himself on fire," the Free Tibet organisation in London said, citing an unnamed witness.

"He was heard calling out 'we Tibetan people want freedom', 'long live the Dalai Lama' and 'let the Dalai Lama return to Tibet'. He is believed to have died at the scene," the group added.

China's official news agency also reported the monk's self-immolation, but said 'it was unclear why he did so'.

Tawu, known as Daofu in Chinese, is in a largely ethnic Tibetan part of western Sichuan that many advocates of self-rule say should form part of a larger homeland under Tibetan control. (ANI)