Authorities bust fabricated self-immolation case

XINING - Police in northwest China's Qinghai province said they have busted a fabricated self-immolation case in which a herdsman committed suicide after an argument with his girlfriend.

Cerzha, 25, a Tibetan monk in Qumarleb County in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Yushu, was arrested by police and faces charges of inciting split of the state, the Yushu prefectural public security bureau said.

He confessed that overseas forces encouraged him to take photos of a dead herdsman and send them to others, the bureau said.

Tendru Shilha, a herdsman in Qumarelb, died by setting himself on fire on a remote hill on May 27 after having an argument with his girlfriend, the police said.

The day after Tendru Shilha's death, Cerzha received a telephone call from the man's brother. The brother asked Cerzha to borrow a lamp from a monastery and bring it to the home of the father of the deceased for a funeral service.

Cerzha brought the lamp to the house of Tendru Shilha's father on the afternoon of May 28. Meanwhile, he kept contact with a monk named Tsultrim Yeshe in India. Cerzha got to know Tsultrim Yeshe at a monastery in Chindu County in Yushu.

After Cerzha told him about Tendru Shilha's death, Tsultrim Yeshe asked Cerzha to take photos of the dead man and try to get a picture of him prior to his death.

On the evening of May 28, Cerzha used his mobile phone to take a photo of Tendru Shilha's body. He also took a picture of a photo of Tendru Shilha that was taken prior to his death.

Cerzha sent the photos to Tsultrim Yeshe via Weixin, a popular instant messaging application. Cerzha then burned his mobile phone's SIM card and the photo of Tendru Shilha. He also deleted all of the pictures on his mobile phone.

Overseas organizations advocating "Tibetan independence" immediately hyped the incident and attacked the ethnic and religious policies of the Chinese government.

Overseas media released reports about the case, with some claiming that Tendru Shilha was the first self-immolation victim in Qumarleb County.

He Zhanlu, head of the Yushu prefectural public security bureau, said domestic and overseas forces worked together to portray the man's suicide as a self-immolation that was done in the name of "Tibetan independence."