DHAKA: A Tibetan nun is believed to have died after setting herself on fire to protest China's rule over the Himalayan region and to voice support for the Dalai Lama.

Rights groups and media said, reports The Straits Times.

Yeshi Khando walked around the Kardze Monastery in a type of prayer that is common in Tibetan Buddhism, and then set herself alight on Wednesday near the Ganzi county police station, the British-based Free Tibet group, the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) and US-funded Radio Free Asia (RFA) said.

The 47-year-old nun ‘called for the return of the Dalai Lama and also for his long life’, RFA reported, citing anonymous sources and referring to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader.

‘She also called for the freedom for Tibet.’ RFA said that those present do not believe Khando survived.

BDST: 1158 HRS, APR 11, 2015
RR