A Tibetan monk has been shot after setting fire to himself during a protest at Beijing’s rule, reports say.
The incident happened in the Tibetan-populated town of Aba in southwest China’s Sichuan province during a gathering of more than 1,000 monks.
The monk, named Tapey, is said to have shouted slogans and waved a Tibetan flag, then doused himself with petrol and set himself alight.
Campaign groups said witnesses then saw Chinese police shoot the man.
- BBC News
2 Comments
Possible justifications for shooting including the following
(1) If there wasn’t much that could be done, then shooting is possibly a mercy. (With burnings at the stake, smoke was likely to suffocate you before you died from flames).
(2) It is possible that no matter what the intent, the pain may cause someone to run about, and accidentally set others alight – or even flammable buildings.
That’s what I was going to say, Dave.