Norbu Damdul
His slogans: “Freedom and Independence for Tibet, the Land of Snow” and “His Holiness the Dalai Lama Should Be Allowed to Return to Tibet”
Name: Norbu Damdul
Age: 19
Sex: Male
Profession: Former monk at Kirti Monastery
Date of Self-Immolation: 15 October 2011, around 11:50 am (local time)
Location: Ngaba County Town, Amdo, Eastern Tibet
Current whereabouts/wellbeing: Decease, 5 January 2012 in a Chinese military hospital in Barkham.
Norbu Damdul set himself on fire in Ngaba town market place while shouting patriotic slogans. Ngaba County PSB police personnel reportedly beat him at the same time as dousing water to put out the fire. He was then thrown into a jeep and taken away to an unknown location. A large crowd of Tibetans who had gathered at the scene was dispersed at gunpoint by security personnel, according to sources. At the time of his detention by Chinese security, a witness-informant reported that, “Although badly burnt, Damdul appeared to still be alive.” For three months, his exact whereabouts remained unknown. However information later received confirmed that he passed away on 5 January 2012 in a Chinese military hospital in Barkham. It was also reported that Norbu Damdul’s family was denied the right to perform his last rites. The Chinese authorities cremated the body and delivered the ashes to Damdul’s family.