The Associated Press March 23, 2008 Sunday 7:07 AM GMT Man Sets Himself Ablaze in Political
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The Associated Press March 23, 2008 Sunday 7:07 AM GMT Man sets himself ablaze in political protest in military-ruled Myanmar
A man set himself on fire at Yangon's most famous landmark in a political protest against Myanmar's military junta, witnesses said Sunday.
Thousands of pilgrims were gathered at the city's famed Shwedagon pagoda for a Buddhist holiday Friday when a 26-year-old man shouted "Down with the military regime," doused himself with gasoline and set himself ablaze, witnesses said. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing fear of official reprisal.
The man remained in critical condition with severe burns at a hospital Sunday, a hospital official said on condition of anonymity because he did not have the authority to speak to the press.
The incident was the first known case of self-immolation in Myanmar since the military regime took over in 1962.
Shwedagon pagoda was one of the main gathering points for Buddhist monks and pro-democracy protesters last September when at least 31 people were killed and thousands more were detained when the country's military rulers cracked down on peaceful demonstrations.
Myanmar's junta seized control of the government in 1988 after violently suppressing nationwide pro- democracy protests. It held a general election in 1990, but failed to hand over power to the victors, the National League for Democracy Party led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Agence France Presse -- English March 7, 2008 Friday 2:29 AM GMT Women bear brunt of Iraq bloodshed
Surprisingly, one of the most volatile regions for crimes against women is Iraq's peaceful northern Kurdish region.
More than 100 Kurdish women attempted to commit suicide by self-immolation during the last four months to December, according to statistics from the Kurdish regional government.
Most of such crimes are reported as deaths due to accidental fires in the home.
The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq has regularly highlighted "honour killings" of Kurdish women as among Iraq's most severe human rights abuses.
Iraq's minister for women's rights, Nariman Mahmoud Othman -- herself a Kurd -- said the biggest threat to women in Iraq is from Islamic extremist groups.
Because of this "women remain in their homes, and the few of those who do not wear the veil are afraid of being abused or killed as can be seen from cases reported in Basra and Baghdad," she said in an interview with AFP. The Pakistan Newswire November 11, 2007 Sunday Distt (Sialkot): 2 killed, 2 wounded in separate incidents
Local poor labourers infant daughter was burnt to death, while his wife and other minor daughter received serious burn wounds. As per details, the labourers wife tried to commit self immolation by burning her self and her two minor daughters alive after sprinkling kerosene oil on them, after a domestic dispute with the labourer caused by his prolonged unemployment and poverty in citys congested Budhi Bazaar-Naikapura locality, here.
Poor labourer Shahabud Din was unemployed since long. On the day of incident his wife Farzana Bibi quarreled with him. This dispute made her anguished and she tried to commit self immolation along with her both minor daughters by burning themselves alive after sprinkling kerosene oil on them.
She set herself and her two minor daughters ablaze. During this nasty incident, her infant daughter Zainab died on the spot after receiving serious burn wounds. Farzana Bibi and her other daughter Sehar (7) also received serious burn wounds. They were shifted to Mayo Hospital Lahore from Sialkot Allama Iqbal DHQ Hospital due to their critical condition. The major causes behind this nasty incident were stated to be prolonged poverty and unemployment.
However, the Naikapura police are investigating. Meanwhile, in another incident, the cruel husband accused Iftikhar Hussain allegedly poisoned to death her issueless wife Shakeela Bibi for not having children after passing the three years of their marital life in village Sidha, Sialkot tehsil, here, Sunday.
Reportedly, Shakeela Bibi was issueless, as three years have passed of their marriage and her husband Iftikhar Hussain wanted to do his second marriage for having children. He forced her to allow him for his second marriage. Upon her refusal, the accused Iftikhar Hussain with the help of his other family members, forcibly poisoned to death his wife.
Kotli Said Ameer police have registered a case and sent the dead body to Govt. Allama Iqbal DHQ Hospital Sialkot for autopsy. Police are investigating with no arrest, in this regard.
BBC Monitoring International Reports September 5, 2007 Wednesday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 5 SEP 07 Pagah (independent daily) - Report indicates that despite launching a publicity programme on tackling violence against women, the recent instances of severe beating and self-immolation suggest that the Afghan women still live in a critical condition. (p 3, 200 words in Dari, NPP)
BBC Monitoring International Reports August 6, 2007 Monday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 6 AUG 07 Etefaq-e Eslam (Officially-funded daily) - Report says that self-immolation cases have dropped by 50 per cent in Herat Province. The report carries interviews with a number of experts who put forward ways to even reduce the number of self-immolation cases in the province. (p 2, 400 words in Dari, NPP) Pagah (independent daily) - Unattributed article by Fahima introduces self-immolation among women as one of the serious social problems in Herat Province. Quoting head of Herat Women's Council as saying self- immolation has decreased in Herat, the article asserts that the government has done very little to prevent this process. (p 2, 380 words in Dari, NPP) Sur Ghar Weekly (Privately run) - Report: Head of Women Affairs Department informs self-immolation cases in Kandahar have been increase. A culture imported from western Provinces. (pp 1, 120 words in Pashto, NPP) Hindustan Times July 2, 2007 Monday 1:13 PM EST Immolation bid by Dera follower
NEW DELHI, India, July 2 -- A DERA Sacha Sauda follower attempted self-immolation at the Mini Secretariat complex in Sirsa on Monday to protest the alleged "harassment" of Dera men and the "autocratic" attitude of the Parkash Singh Badal government in Punjab.
Jaswinder Singh, 26, a resident of Punjab's Bhatinda district, suffered more than 80 per cent burns and was immediately rushed to PGIMS at Rohtak. His condition is stated to be critical. Before being rushed to Rohtak, Jaswinder told the city magistrate that he had set himself afire to register his protest against the alleged persecution of Dera followers in Punjab. "He talked about how Dera followers are not being permitted to conduct naam charcha (discourse) and perform rituals," a district official said.
Jaswinder had come to the Mini Secretariat to meet 25 Dera men sitting on a fast-unto-death to protest against the "false" cases registered against Dera head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. "He went to a makeshift urinal behind the secretariat building and set himself on fire. Some people saw him and doused the fire. When he was being taken to the Sirsa Civil Hospital, he kept speaking against the Badal government and Punjab Police," Dera Sacha Sauda Action Committee member Ram Pal told HT. Dera spokesman Aditya Arora blamed the Punjab government for the incident.
Pajhwok Afghan News June 3, 2007 Sunday Girl commits suicide by self-immolation
A school girl committed suicide by self-immolation in Kohistan district of the central Kapisa province, security officials and residents said on Sunday.
Khalida, 16, locked herself in a room and set fire after sprinkling kerosene oil on her body, said district police officer Bahauddin.
He mentioned apparent reason behind the extreme step as the beating of the girl by her younger brother.
Khalida migrated from the Naswan-i-Namaz Jay School to the Naswan-i-Nasajee School without the consent of her family.
Angry at the decision, younger brother of the girl beat her while she was returning from the school, which was far away from the previous one, said Abdul Rahim, 65, neighbour of the deceased.
Rahim said no one knew why the girl opted to study at a school far away from her house than the one which was nearer despite opposition from her family members.
The police officer said the girl was shifted to hospital in critical condition. However, she succumbed to her injuries there. He said the case was being probed by the police.
BBC Monitoring International Reports June 3, 2007 Sunday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 3 JUN 07
Rah-e Nejat (Independent daily) - Unattributed report, entitled "Self-immolation and killing of women in the west and southeast are at highest level - Independent Human Rights Commission", the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan has released a report in which it expressed concern over the self- immolation women and mistreatment of them by their family members. (p3, 130 words in Dari, NPP)
UPI April 19, 2007 Thursday 11:54 PM EST Man sets himself on fire at City Hall
An unidentified man was listed in critical condition Thursday after setting himself on fire at Long Beach (Calif.) City Hall.
Hundreds of people were evacuated from the downtown high-rise after the man set himself on fire, The Los Angeles Times reported.
Witnesses said the man, in his 40s or 50s, came through the main entrance at around 3:30 p.m. carrying a plastic shopping bag, said Long Beach Fire Department spokesman Mike Duree. The man dropped the bag before setting himself on fire.
The bag was examined by bomb experts and found not to contain explosives, Duree said.
A civilian employee of the Long Beach Police Department who happened to be in the lobby at the time rushed the man and tackled him, and several other bystanders helped extinguish the flames. The police officer suffered minor burns on his hands.
Witnesses said the man smelled of gasoline, the newspaper reported.
The man was taken to St. Mary Medical Center where he was listed in critical condition, as he received treatment for first- and second-degree burns.
All the employees in the building were sent home, the Times said.
Police said no motive had been determined for the self-immolation.
Yonhap April 5, 2007 Thursday NATIONAL ASSEMBLY HEARING HERALDS TOUGH ROAD AHEAD FOR FTA
SEOUL, April 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korean legislators voiced differing positions on their country's free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States Wednesday, portending a tough road ahead for the deal that faces a parliamentary vote for approval.
The National Assembly Unification, Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee hearing attended by the country's top free trade negotiators also indicated the rapidly changing political landscape for President Roh Moo- hyun, who suddenly gained support from his conservative foes and lost ground with his liberal allies.
In a rare move, many lawmakers of the Grand National Party (GNP) gave big compliments to the president who has been called a "leftist," "incompetent" and "really bad" by the conservative party.
An angry farmer went on an indiscriminate shooting spree on Tuesday night, killing one person and injuring several others. It followed a self-immolation attempt over the weekend by a taxi driver who was still in critical condition Wednesday.
Several loyalists of Roh, including Rep. Kim Geun-tae, former chairman of the pro-government Uri Party, continued their protest against the trade deal, and independent lawmaker Im Jong-in was fasting for the ninth straight day. BBC Monitoring International Reports March 8, 2007 Thursday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 8 MAR 07
Pagah (independent daily) - Report by Sediqi indicates that a man has committed self-immolation because of family disputes in Herat city recently. Although the rate of self-immolation incidents among woman has been reportedly high in this province, such cases are quite rare among men. (p 2, 200 words in Dari, NPP)
BBC Monitoring International Reports February 6, 2007 Tuesday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 6 FEB 07
The Kabul Times (State-run daily) - Article by Hanifa Walizadah, entitled "Improper traditions cause self-immolation among girls", says the experiences of recent years including tragic incidents have shown that forced marriage and not attracting any importance to the lives of girls are the most important reasons for self-immolation and suicide. It says the awareness of the people should be enhanced. The mass media, in particular the radio and television stations, can play an important role in enlightening public minds in this connection and they should provide essential information on women's rights and obligations. (p2, 150 words in English, NPP)
Pajhwok Afghan News January 23, 2007 Tuesday Teenage bride commits self-immolation in Badakhshan
Tired of the complex in-laws family hazards, a 16-year-old newly wedded woman has committed self- immolation in the northeastern Badakhshan province, officials said.
The teenage bride, hailing from Yaftal district of the province, committed suicide by pouring petrol on her body. Nadia, an officer at the Women Affairs Department, told Pajhwok Afghan News she had interviewed the victim at hospital. She quoted the bride as saying: "I was thrashed and insulted by my in-laws regularly."
Nadia said Fauzia was fed up of life and chose to commit suicide. Dr Hamayun Frotan, a doctor at the Public Health Department, said they received Fauzia with critical burn injuries.
Fauzia succumbed to her injuries some two days back, after 14 days of her committing self-immolation. Corpse of the teenage bride was shifted to Badakhshan on Sunday. However, Sharifullah, husband of the late Fauzia, said: "My wife was burnt when she was trying to light lantern."
Col Fazil Ahmad Nazari, crime branch chief at the provincial police headquarters, said they had begun investigations into the incident. He said they would arrest if anybody found involved in killing of the teenage bride.
Zofinon Natiq, head of the Women Affairs Department, also confirmed the young lady had committed self- immolation due to family problems and violence. She said it was first case of self-immolation in the province.
She said a 30-year-old woman, mother of three, also committed suicide some few months back by eating poisons as she was fed up by her relatives violence. By the same token, an 18-year-old woman committed suicide by jumping into the river. BBC Monitoring International Reports January 18, 2007 Thursday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 18 JAN 07
Arman-e Melli (independent daily) - Article by Faisal Karimi, entitled "Self-immolation has not ended in Herat", reviews the women's self-immolation cases in Herat. It says it has reduced compared to the past years, but not ended. (p3, 1,800 words in Dari, NPP)
BBC Monitoring International Reports November 27, 2006 Monday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 27 NOV 06
Etefaq-e Eslam (state-run daily) - Report cites Bakhtar News Agency as reporting the Herat Women's Affairs Department held a ceremony to mark the International Day for Elimination of Violence Against Women in Herat Province yesterday. A human rights official says Kandahar Province has seen the highest rate of self-immolation cases. (p 1, 150 words in Dari, NPP)
Xinhua General News Service November 16, 2006 Thursday 11:00 AM EST Roundup: Feminists call for law change, rights awareness to better protect Afghan women
Change of law should be introduced and the whole society's awareness of women's rights should be lifted to better protect Afghan women, who are frequent victims to violence, feminists attending a conference said Thursday.
The three-day international conference on "Self-Immolation Among Women", which were attended by hundreds of delegates, mostly women, from Afghanistan and several other countries, was wrapped up here on Thursday.
"A critical problem for Afghan women is violence of different types against them," Ancil Adrian, program manager in Afghanistan of a Germany-based NGO named Medica Mondiale, which focuses on supporting women and girls in war and crises zones across the world.
She told Xinhua that forced marriage, forced exchange of girls between families are major reasons behind violence against women and their self-immolation, an act of committing suicide by burning oneself.
According to Dr. Sima Samar, director of Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), over 600 cases of self-immolation by women, who can't bear their life, have been registered in five southern and western province of Afghanistan this year, while many others may go unregistered.
Medica Mondiale and the AIHRC have jointly organized the conference to make people better aware of many Afghan women's harsh conditions and find ways to tackle the problem.
Samar told Xinhua that lack of awareness toward women's rights, forced marriage, child marriage are major reasons behind the violence, though poverty, lack of job opportunity and lack of education also add to the problem.
"The judiciary system, unfortunately, is not in a position to contribute to protecting Afghan women's rights," said Smar, adding criminal and civil laws must be changed to better safeguard females' rights.
She also emphasized awareness of women's right should be brought forward to the whole Afghan society. Alamshahi Rahela, a female parliament member, complained, "In this society, tradition doesn't accept women are equal to men." Meanwhile, Sabrina Saqib, 26, another member of Afghan parliament, expressed similar views with Smar.
She told Xinhua that "First of all, we should give information to families that women are equal to men. Secondly, we have to add some articles of laws and remove others for the benefits of women."
The current conditions of Afghan women, about 80 percent of whom are illiterate, are far from being satisfactory, participants of the conference said. The country has witnessed a considerable rise of women's self-immolation in the past years.
However, violence against women gets little space in Afghan media because most of cases are kept secret as males have demanded or ordered.
BBC Monitoring International Reports September 24, 2006 Sunday PRESS SELECTION LIST OF AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED ON 24 SEP 06
Pagah (independent daily) - Editorial, entitled: "Will the bad condition of prisons deteriorate?" says that an Afghan prisoner committed self-immolation in Herat Prison recently and this demonstrate the state prisoners are in. The editorial affirms prisoner rights are violated and organizations wasted money allocated for human rights programmes and done nothing to improve prison condition. It calls on the government to devise tangible programmes to provide further facilities for prisoners and prevent further suicided. (p 1, 300 words in Dari, PROCESSING) - Report, saying that a prisoner has set fire to himself recently and due to critical condition in Herat prison. This is the third case of self-immolation over the past three months, in which two prisoners passed away. (p 2, 200 words in Dari, PROCESSING)
BBC Monitoring International Reports August 28, 2006 Monday PRESS SELECTION LIST OF AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 28 AUG 06
Pagah (independent daily) - Report: A 14-year-old boy who recently committed self-immolation due to poor economic condition in Farah Province has been taken the Herat hospital. He is in a very critical condition according to the doctors. (p 1, 150 words in Dari, NPP)
Deutsche Presse-Agentur July 20, 2006 Thursday 10:47 AM EST Petitioner sets fire to himself in Beijing's Tiananmen Square
A Chinese migrant worker set fire to himself in Beijing's Tiananmen Square on Thursday, suffering serious burns before police stopped his apparent self-immolation attempt, state media and a Hong Kong-based rights group said.
The 53-year-old man had travelled to Beijing from the central city of Yichang, Hubei province, to "appeal to the higher authorities to help him get back delayed salary," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Beijing police as saying.
The man set fire to himself at about 9 a.m. and the flames were put out by police and security guards within 10 seconds, the Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights and Democracy said in a statement.
The Tiananmen Square police station and Beijing municipal police declined to respond to telephone and faxed requests for information on the incident.
The information centre said he was in critical condition in a local hospital. Police in Tiananmen Square, the symbolic centre of Beijing, are on constant alert for protests or self- immolation attempts.
Fire engines and fire extinguishers have been kept in the square since seven alleged members of the Falun Gong spiritual movement set fire to themselves there in January 2001.
Several other people have set light to themselves in the square since 2001.
Thousands of petitioners travel to Beijing from across China every month, as a last resort after failing to settle legal disputes or alleged injustices.
Tiananmen Square was also the focus of China's 1989 pro-democracy protests, which ended after the ruling Communist Party sent troops to disperse the protestors, killing hundreds of people in Beijing.
Pajhwok Afghan News June 25, 2006 Sunday Woman commits suicide in Kohistan
A woman committed self-immolation after she was allegedly beaten up by her in-laws in the Kohistan district of the northern Kapisa province.
Twenty-eight-year-old Mabooba was shifted to hospital in critical condition where she succumbed to her injures on Saturday.
Aqa Jan, hubby of the deceased woman, told Pajhwok Afghan News his wife had gone to Kabul to meet her parents. "Upon her return, my parents quarreled and beaten her."
Later, she sprinkled petrol and set herself on fire, Aqa Jan went on saying. The ill-fated woman was rushed to Panjsher hospital for treatment but she breathed her last after three days.
Crime branch chief of the Kohistan district Abdul Azim told Pajhwok Afghan News they had registered the case and started investigations into the incident.
It is pertinent to recall that two women had committed suicide by shooting themselves in the same area last year.
Associated Press Worldstream June 12, 2006 Monday 10:41 AM GMT Indian Man sets himself on fire to protest film screening
A man set himself on fire in the bathroom of a western Indian movie theater to protest the screening of a film whose star has spoken out against a local dam project, media reports said Monday.
The 30-year-old man, who suffered burns over 70 percent of his body in the Sunday incident, was protesting the screening of "Fanaa," or "Self-destruction," in the city of Jamnagar, the Times of India newspaper reported.
The Jamnagar theater was the only cinema to defy an unofficial ban on the film in the western state of Gujarat. The owner went ahead with screenings after the Supreme Court ruled police protection would be offered to theaters showing the film.
However, on Monday the theater stopped showing the film at the request of the distributors, theater owner Vimal Madam told the Press Trust of India news agency. Madam said it was not worth making money off a film that would cause people to attempt suicide.
"Fanaa" has been opposed by supporters of the state's massive Narmada dam project because the lead actor, Aamir Khan, has called for more compensation for the 35,000 people who will be displaced.
The man, identified as Pravin Joshi, using a bottle of kerosene, set himself on fire in the theater's bathroom during the movie's intermission, PTI quoted police as saying.
Local police could not immediately be reached for comment.
"Such incidents of self-immolation will continue until Bollywood star Aamir Khan apologizes to the people of Gujarat," The Times of India quoted Joshi as saying in a statement to police.
Joshi said Khan had maligned the dam project and the people of Gujarat, the paper said.
On Monday, doctors said Joshi was in a critical but stable condition. "At present he is stable as he is conscious and is able to talk," Abhishek Soni a doctor treating him told PTI.
Since its release last month, "Fanaa" has had a successful run across India.
Supporters of the dam argue that it will provide drinking water to 40 million people, irrigate land and generate electricity; opponents say the displaced have been given insufficient support once their farms and homes are submerged by the dam's reservoir.
Local politicians have demanded Khan, one of the country's biggest stars, reverse his stand and apologize for his comments, which he has refused to do.
Agence France Presse -- English May 27, 2006 Saturday 5:19 PM GMT Indian protestor sets himself alight in protest at college quotas
An Indian set himself on fire Saturday in protest against a government move to reserve more places in top universities for lower-caste students, authorities said.
Rishi Gupta set himself alight at a protest rally in New Delhi and was rushed to a nearby hospital with burns to his chest and hands, police said.
Doctors said Gupta suffered almost 45 percent burns and was in critical condition as police officials at the site said the 23-year-old was not a student.
"We are awaiting a statement from him to ascertain why he set himself on fire at the rally grounds," an area police spokesman told AFP.
Students at the rally were protesting the government's move to reserve 49.5 percent of seats in top universities for India's poorer classes.
Doctors and medical students have been on strike for more than two weeks in protest at the quota move.
The Press Trust of India reported a second suicide bid late Saturday in the eastern city of Cuttack and identified the man as a post-graduate medical student.
Surendra Mohanty had tried to set himself on fire in front of a police station, but did not suffer burns, the news agency quoted police as saying. The two self-immolation bids were reminiscent of a suicide by charismatic student leader Rajiv Goswami in 1991 after the government of then premier V.P. Singh doubled the percentage of reserved university places and jobs.
The suicide snowballed into weeks of uproar that led to the resignation of Singh and the fall of the government. That plan was later shelved.
Protesters took to the streets of New Delhi after doctors and students Friday rejected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's appeal to call off the strike, which began May 12.
Pharmacists, traders, university teachers and members of the Indian Medical Association joined the rally, attended by some 8,000 people, police said.
"We have been agitating for the last 15-16 days and we think the government has not been able to understand our grievances and so we will continue the agitation till our demands are met," said Kumar Harsh, spokesman for the protesting students.
Across the country in the eastern state of West Bengal, 4,000 doctors and students staged a protest march in Kolkata, chanting ""Say 'No' to reservation".
On Friday, Prime Minister Singh promised a student delegation that he would expand overall capacity in medical and engineering colleges as well as in India's top six business schools.
Pakistan Press International Information Services Limited March 30, 2006 Thursday UNIVERSITY STUDENTS STAGE DEMO, THREATEN SELF IMMOLATION
HYDERABAD, March 30 (PPI): Scores of students from Sindh, Mehran and Liaquat Universities held protest demonstration in front of press club here on Thursday against arrest of one student Mustafa Khoso of political science department of Sindh university who was arrested on 28 March 2006 under 13/D. The student's demonstration was led by Raja Noonari, Abid Baloch, Niaz Khan and Shakeel Abbasi.
The students said that Mustafa Khoso was innocent and alleged that DSP Aftab Nizamani and SHO Abdul Sattar Solangi of Jamshoro were threatening of implicating them in false cases. They threatened that if Mustafa Khoso was not released by Saturday, they would commit self immolation. JSMM Demo: Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz activists held protest demonstration here on Thursday against torture on their leader Asghar Shah in central jail Hyderabad which caused closure of his heart valve due to which he was admitted in jail hospital.
They also raised slogans against jail superintendent. Addressing the demonstration Ghulam Mustafa Shah, Anwer Bhatti, Kamran Legahri and Khaliq Sindhi accused Central Jail Superintendent Muzaffar Alam Siddiqui and Deputy Superintendent Saleem Punjabi have subjected him to sever torture. They said the condition of Asghar Shah was in critical condition and he was not sent to civil hospital for treatment and that the doctors of jail hospital have refused to treat him.
They alleged that jail superintendent wants to kill the prisoners of JSMM including Asghar Shah, Sanaullah Bhatti, Imran Leghari and Fayaz Janwri during their imprisonment in jail. They warned that if any thing happened to any of their workers the jail superintendent and deputy would not rest in peace in their homes.
United News of Bangledesh February 28, 2006 Tuesday Disabled girl attempts self-immolation to end shameful life Raped by spoiled boys a young girl made an abortive attempt to end her shameful life by self-immolation in remote Pocharkura village on Monday.
Meneka (12), daughter of day labourer Mozammel Haq, with burn injuries all over her body was lying in critical condition on the floor of Gaibandha Sadar Hospital. Dr Shakhwat Hossain said 89 percent of her body was badly burnt.
On information from the hospital police visited Meneka in the hospital, recorded her feeble voice and arrested Anisur, one of the rapists. Two others Pandit and Ratan were absconding.
Villagers said Meneka came out with their goat on Sunday when the three scoundrels forcibly took her to a wheat field and raped one after another.
They left her wounded and bleeding.
She narrated her woes to mother Hasina Khatun. Hasina went to the village elders and sought justice. But they gave a deaf ear to the grievance of the poor woman.
Ashamed and dejected Meneka poured kerosene on her body and set fire at adjacent bamboo grove Monday noon in a bid of self-immolation.
A neighbour saw the fire and raised alarming cries. People around rushed in, extinguished the fire and took her to the hospital in serious condition.
BBC Monitoring International Reports February 6, 2006 Monday PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 6 FEB 06
Baztab (Independent-daily) - An Iranian asylum-seeker attempts self immolation in Mazar-e Sharif, in front of the building of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Afghanistan (UNAMA). (P1, 100 words in Dari)
Indo-Asian News Service January 25, 2006 Wednesday 2:06 PM EST Embarrassed Amarinder rushes to self-immolation victim
Patiala (Punjab), Jan 25 -- An embarrassed Chief Minister Amarinder Singh rushed to a hospital here Wednesday to see a man who had set himself on fire to protest the plight of pushcart vendors like him.
Even though the chief minister and doctors treating Gopal Krishan at Rajindra Hospital said he was "critical but stable", family members of the vendor claimed he had died and the hospital authorities were only delaying the announcement.
Krishan continued to battle for life with over 90 percent burns and doctors indicated there were very few chances of his survival.
A burns specialist was rushed, at the instance of the Punjab government, from a leading private hospital in Ludhiana Tuesday night.
Krishan had set himself on fire in full view of onlookers, media and Punjab police to highlight the plight of pushcart vendors who had been rendered jobless by an anti-encroachment and beautification drive launched by municipal authorities in December 2004. The incident, particularly the fact that the local administration and police did nothing to prevent the immolation bid, has embarrassed the ruling Congress government in Punjab.
The victim was an active Congress worker and carried out the immolation in the hometown of the chief minister.
Amarinder Singh's wife Preneet Kaur is the Lok Sabha MP from the Patiala constituency.
Before setting himself afire, Krishan had accused Congress Mayor Vishnu Sharma and the chief minister's media adviser B.I.S. Chahal - both close associates of the chief minister - of letting down poor pushcart vendors in Patiala.
He charged the mayor of demanding money for allotment of alternate shops in lieu of the pushcarts removed from under the city's flyover in December 2004.
The Patiala police has suspended some policemen for failing to stop the immolation bid despite being present at the spot Tuesday. A magisterial inquiry has been ordered into the incident.
"I will ensure that no one, howsoever powerful, who is found guilty, is spared," Amarinder Singh told reporters after visiting the hospital. He said Krishan was critical and still in the ICU.
The chief minister, who faces assembly polls in a year, said he would do anything for Krishan's family, including giving jobs to his young children.
Pajhwok Afghan News November 18, 2005 Friday Pakistani asylum-seeker with burn injuries rushed to Dushanbe
A Kashmiri asylum-seeker, who sustained serious burn injuries while attempting self-immolation in front of the UNAMA office here last week, was Friday sent to Dushanbe for medical treatment.
Ghazi Anwar, part of a 17-member group that crossed over from Pakistan's northern region of Gilgit- Baltistan into Afghanistan to seek political asylum here, had set himself ablaze in protest against the "indifferent attitude of the United Nations" towards his community.
UNHCR spokesman in Kabul Nader Farhad, in a chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, said Ghazi Anwar was flown to Tajikistan with the support of UNAMA and ICRC. He claimed the asylum-seeker, whose condition was not that critical, was sent to Dushanbe for better treatment.
According to doctors at the Istiqlal Hospital here, the young asylum-seeker has lost his ability to speak and is unlikely to survive with 70 percent burn injuries on his body. They say Ghazi Anwar's both kidneys had run into dysfunction.
Syed Hussain Kamil, director of the hospital, told this news agency the other day they had injected about 8,000 milliliters of liquids into his body. But due to the failure of his kidneys, the liquids could not benefit him."His condition is worrying," Kamil added.
Wrapped in bandages and put on oxygen at the Istiqlal Hospital here, the young asylum-seeker has lost his ability to speak. Unlikely to survive with 70 percent burn injuries on his body, surgeons said Ghazi Anwar's both kidneys had run into dysfunction.
It will be pertinent to recall the United Nations rejected the asylum request of four of the 17 identifying themselves as Kashmiris, who arrived in Kabul in batches during the past one year and a half. The three other protesters have been missing since the incident, with the Afghan police and other security agencies clues about them. Belonging to Pakistan's Gilgit-Baltistan area, Anwar had introduced himself as the chieftain of his Karakoram tribe and head of a tribal movement. On Tuesday, minutes before attempting self-immolation, the man said: "Those offices (the UN) don't consider us humans. I prefer death to such a disgraceful life," he said.
The men claim they are facing threats in their areas both from Pakistan and India. Since they cannot achieve their rights in their hometowns, the Kashmiris argue, they need asylum in Kabul.
Ruthlessly thrashed by policemen with Klashnikov buts after he embraced a United Nations worker, Anwar was angered in the extreme. Along with three other fellows, he was protesting the UN's rejection of their asylum.
On the occasion, three other Kashmiris, holding bottles of kerosene oil, also tried to immolate themselves but police personnel present on the scene overcame them. Shams Tabrizi, Anwar's friend who participated in the protest, said they did not want to set themselves ablaze so soon, but the police irritated Anwar by beating him with Klashnikov buts.
Associated Press Worldstream July 5, 2005 Tuesday Homeless man sets himself on fire in Romania
A homeless man set himself on fire Tuesday in front of a media center in the Romanian capital.
The man climbed into a tree and sprayed paint thinner on his clothes. He then set himself on fire and fell from the tree, the state agency Rompres reported.
A fire department crew put out the fire and the man was rushed to a Bucharest hospital, where he had surgery for severe burns.
The man, who was not identified, has suffered burns on over 60 percent of his body and is in critical condition, Vitali Stan, a doctor at the emergency hospital, told Rompres.
Business Recorder June 18, 2005 PTCL WORKERS TO RESORT TO SELF-IMMOLATION, PROTEST MARCHES
Despite striking a package deal with Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL) management, some dissident action committee members said that workers would resort to self-immolation and protest march in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta to halt the process of national telecom entity sell-off on Saturday, June 18.
Talking to Business Recorder on telephone from an undisclosed location, Shahid Ayub, head of PTCL Pak Workers Union and active action committee member, said that thousands of furious employees were prepared to stage protest march towards the venue where the bidding of PTCL would be held. They would also hold demonstrations in front of all provincial assemblies and press clubs to stop the sell-off process, he added.
Though, Shahid Ayub said, unprecedented security measures were taken in Islamabad, the action committee had evolved a joint strategy for the protest march to Parliament House, or possible besiege, to press the government to get back its anti-state decision.
In a question regarding jamming the countrywide communication system, which was scheduled for Friday, he said that the action committee had postponed it in the larger national interest. "But, the government is defiant to complete the privatisation of the profit earning entity, which is condemnable," Ayub added.
However, he categorically rejected the agreement signed with the PTCL management by the Rana Tahir and Ziauddin Groups some four days back to clear the privatisation process, saying that they did it for their vested interests.
He said that security forces were constantly harassing the workers and action committee members. Besides, the union leaders arrested a week ago were being subjected to physical and mental torture to win favour for PTCL privatisation.
Shahid said that security agencies have picked up action committee's most active members, namely, Maqbool and Haji Khan Bhatti from Islamabad, and were grilling them to change their stance regarding PTCL privatisation.
"The arrests, tortures and harassment can not deter our workers, and resistance will continue for indefinite period, even after the bidding," he stressed.
He said that Sirajul Hassan (68) and Qazi Rashid were brought to Islamabad from Karachi on a PIA flight in critical condition. Both leaders were being pressed by the government to stop resistance to privatisation process, and they might have joined government ranks, like Rana Tahir and Ziauddin, he added.
"The police and secret agencies have raided the homes of our workers and are pressing them to join duty at respective telephone exchanges, or face terrorist charges," he said.
About the agreement signed by PTCL workers and government, he said impressions of fake signatures of dissident leaders were pasted on the accord to show their majority to government.
Shahid said that majority of trade unionists, action committee members and workers were backing their stance and about 80 percent of them were not attending offices, telephone exchanges or customer service centres.
He said that eight out of the nine members of the action committee were still against privatisation and were ready for staging demonstrations and offering arrest.
Nearly 250,000 subscribers are facing difficulty on account of faulty telephone lines across the country because of the workers' strike for the last one month.
The technical staff of PTCL was still not coming to offices, he added.
There was a complete strike in southern Balochistan, central Punjab, NWFP and at the PTCL headquarters here, he claimed.
Countrywide telephone exchanges and customers centres were under complete control of paramilitary forces and the state machinery was making hectic efforts to woo the workers to attend offices.
The Pakistan Newswire June 9, 2005 Thursday Jobless youth commits self-immolation bid
A jobless young man tried to end his life by committing self-immolation bid, here on Thursday. According to details, 18-year-old Nadeem Ahmed son of Taj Muhammad Langah of Gharibabad Muhalla, who had been fed up of joblessness and poverty, poured kerosene oil over him and struck the match. He was rushed to Civil Hospital Dadu in critical condition, where doctors advised to shift him to Hyderabad. Meanwhile, a married woman, Fahmida wife of Ijaz Ali Shahani drank pesticide to end her life due to domestic problems. She was admitted into the Civil Hospital Dadu. BBC Monitoring International Reports May 19, 2005 PRESS SELECTION LIST FOR AFGHAN NEWSPAPERS 19 MAY 05
Pagah (Daily published by the Journalism Department of Herat University) - Report, that a woman has committed self-immolation, expressing a profound concern about the rapid rise in suicide cases in Herat Province. (p 1, 100 words in Dari, PROCESSING)
The Hindu April 27, 2005 SELF-IMMOLATION BID: CASE AGAINST BUILDING OWNER
The Coimbatore Rural Police began on Tuesday a hunt for six persons, including a textile trader of Nagammanaickenpalayam near here, in connection with the self-immolation bid by a construction worker, N. Sampath, at the Coimbatore Collectorate on Monday.
Sampath, who suffered 100% burns and was in a critical condition at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital, gave a statement to the Race Course Police that he had been abused and threatened by the trader while working in his building that was under construction.
He said the trader, Shanmugham, did not return the wooden planks used for roof construction.
Sampath had lodged a complaint with the Sulur Police but the trader told the latter that he had returned all the planks and the case was allegedly dropped. Sampath accused the trader and five others of threatening to kill him for having complained to the police.
They also abused him using his caste name.
Sampath submitted a petition addressed to the District Collector on Monday around 1.30 p.m. Minutes later he set fire to himself behind the Jatropha Information Centre at the Collectorate, taking the people around and the police at the gates by surprise. His screams, while running as a human torch from the centre to the gates, drew their attention but they could not get close to him as tongues of flames leapt at them.
Finally, they managed to push him into the plants near the gates, threw mud on him to put out the fire and rushed him to the hospital.
The Race Course Police filed a case under the Protection of Civil Rights Act (for abusing his caste), Section 309 (instigating suicide) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 506 (2) (threat to life).
The case was transferred to the Sulur Police Station on Monday night.
FBI informant sets himself on fire outside White House November 16, 2004, Tuesday Deutsche Presse-Agentur
New details emerged Tuesday of the man who set himself on fire outside the White House. According to the Washington Post the 52-year-old man was a Yemeni- born FBI informant who provided important information about Al Qaeda finances. The report said he was upset at the failure of authorities to pay him as promised and to reunite him with his family in Yemen. The man, named as Mohamed Alanssi, set himself on fire after uniformed Secret Service rejected his request to pass along a letter explaining his position to President Bush. Earlier he had written noted to the FBI threatening to set himself on fire in a suicide attempt because of what he described as unfair treatment. In the incident Alanssi suffered burns on 30 per cent of his body and was in critical condition Tuesday. In prior interviews with the paper Alanssi expressed anguish over not being able to visit his family in Yemen because the FBI was holding his passport to ensure he gives testimony at an unspecified terrorism trial. Alanssi, who described himself as a once-successful businessman in Yemen, also was upset with the FBI because he said agents had not kept promises they made to secure his cooperation. Those promises included a large, but unspecified, amount of money, eventual U.S. citizenship and protection of his identity, he said.
Associated Press Worldstream September 14, 2004 Tuesday Lawyer sets himself on fire inside court in Pakistan
A lawyer set himself on fire inside a court in the eastern city of Lahore on Tuesday, a day after he lost a legal battle involving a property dispute, witnesses and police said.
The man, Bilal Ahmed Dhilon, 42, was in critical condition, said Chaudhry Shafqat, a senior police investigator.
He said the man had been fighting a legal battle for the past several months to save his house from being demolished by the government highway department, which wanted to expand a road near his home.
On Monday, a judge rejected his petition on technical grounds.
Angered over the decision, Dhilon went to the court of another senior judge and shouted that he was killing himself because "I have not received justice," said Usman Anwar, another police officer.
He said Dhilon quickly poured gasoline over his body and set it on fire.
BBC Monitoring International Reports August 22, 2004 UKRAINIAN OPPOSITION ACTIVIST SAID TO HAVE IMMOLATED HIMSELF
The Zhytomyr Region headquarters of (opposition presidential candidate Viktor) Yushchenko reports that one of Yushchenko's canvassers has committed self-immolation.
The headquarters reports that Alik Aslanov, a resident of the village of Zeremlya in the Baranivka District of Zhytomyr Region, "doused himself with petrol and immolated himself in front of the district prosecutors' office building".
The head of Yushchenko's headquarters in Zhytomyr Region, MP Pavlo Zhebrivskyy, said that Aslanov was driven to take this action after the head of the district administration demanded that he stop canvassing for Yushchenko in exchange for the use of a threshing machine.
Zhebrivskyy said: "A local agricultural firm owed (Aslanov) 3,000 hryvnyas (560 dollars) and it was not going to return the debt."
"In addition, Aslanov's wife reports that the head of the firm refused to provide his employee (Aslanov) with a grain-threshing machine in exchange for the debt and demanded that he pay 600 hryvnyas to use it," Zhebrivskyy said.
(Passage omitted: Zhebrivskyy reports that Aslanov complained to the district administration, where he was told that he would be given use of the machine only if he stopped collecting signatures and canvassing for Yushchenko.) "This justice seeker then went to the district prosecutor's office, but he did not find the prosecutor there. After that he borrowed 10 hryvnyas, bought petrol, and committed a public act of self-immolation," Zhebrivskyy said.
"The cynicism and cruelty of the authorities have gone beyond the bounds of human tolerance. Dividing people up by their political convictions and driving them to self-destruction is genocide against one's own people," Zhebrivskyy said.
He said that Aslanov, who is the father of five children, is in critical condition in hospital.
Associated Press Worldstream July 12, 2004 Monday Woman sets herself on fire outside government building in southern Russia
A woman set herself on fire outside the government headquarters in a southern Russian region on Monday after being barred from the building by guards, witnesses and officials said. She hospitalized in critical condition.
The woman, about 65, poured gasoline over her body, set it alight and ran toward the government building in Vladikazkaz, the capital of the North Ossetia region, a witness said on condition of anonymity.
The woman had been prevented from entering the building by guards who told her that a government meeting was taking place and that there was nobody available to speak to her, according to the witness, who said the woman had some leaflets that were taken away by authorities.
North Ossetia government spokesman Lev Tzugayev said only that a woman had set herself on fire and was hospitalized.
The woman was in critical condition with burns over 80 percent of her body, said the head of the intensive case ward at the main hospital in Vladikavkaz, Bella Kharuyeva. She said that the woman had no documents with her.
Some Russian citizens with complaints against the authorities frequent government buildings in attempts to get officials to hear their requests for help.
North Ossetia has been plagued by sporadic explosions and other violence, some of it related to the war in nearby Chechnya.
Associated Press Worldstream June 16, 2004 Wednesday Report: South Korean man sets himself on fire near presidential office
A taxi driver set himself on fire near the South Korean presidential office on Wednesday, the Yonhap news agency reported.
The man was being treated at a hospital and was in critical condition, it said.
The 36-year-old man, who was only identified by his family name, Lee, got out of the taxi and set himself on fire after pouring oil over his body, Yonhap said.
The reason for his action was not immediately known, and police officials said they were investigating.
Thousands of taxi drivers began a strike on Wednesday, parking their cabs along a road near the National Assembly to demand better working conditions. Associated Press Worldstream April 14, 2004 Wednesday Man sets himself on fire in front of Brazilian president's office
A man who set himself on fire in front of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's office reportedly after realizing he would not be granted an audience with Silva was in critical condition on Wednesday, hospital officials said.
Jose Antonio Andrade de Souza, 30, who tried to kill himself on Tuesday, was rushed to the hospital with first-, second- and third-degree burns over 85 percent of his body.
Witnesses told local media that de Souza had been loitering in front of the presidential office for days carrying a sign saying that he wanted to speak to Silva.
De Souza doused himself with alcohol and set his body on fire with a match, Brasilia's Asa Norte Hospital said in a statement. Jose Malheiros, a hospital director, said de Souza was conscious but was listed in critical condition because of the risk of infection.
BBC Monitoring International Reports March 12, 2004 "THOUSANDS" RALLY AGAINST IMPEACHMENT MOTION IN SOUTH KOREA
Seoul, 12 March: Thousands of people rallied in Seoul and seven other cities on Friday (12 March) in support of President Roh Moo-hyun after the opposition-controlled parliament passed a disputed impeachment motion against him.
The impeachment, the first in South Korea, deepened woes in a country grappling with a faltering economy and North Korea's nuclear weapons programme, less than five weeks before April's crucial parliamentary elections.
After three days of bitter inter-party confrontation, the one-house National Assembly suspended Roh from office by a vote of 193 to two, accusing him of incompetence and an election law infraction. Only opposition members took part in the voting.
"Dissolve the National Assembly," Myung Gye-nam, a movie actor and protest leader, shouted on a microphone to 14,000 people who attended a candlelight rally in front of the one-house legislature.
Smaller rallies were held in Pusan, Kwangju, Chonju, Taegu and Chunchon. In Chonan and Chungju in central South Korea, police stopped two men in their 40s from attempting to burn themselves in protest after pouring gasoline over their bodies.
In Seoul, a 55-year-old man remained in serious condition at a hospital Friday after trying to kill himself in a similar act of self-immolation a day earlier.
The impeachment stripped Roh of all executive powers until the Constitutional Court decides whether to approve or reject it within six months. Any court decision should require a two-thirds endorsement by its nine justices.
Roh said he expected the court to reinstate him because it will consider legal matters rather than political ones. He earlier had said the impeachment motion not only lacks justification but also makes no legal sense.
Prime Minister Goh Kun took over the government as acting president. His past public service included the home minister and the mayor of Seoul. According to public surveys by the nation's three main television networks - KBS, MBC and SBS, seven out of 10 South Koreans were critical of the impeachment.
A poll of 1,205 people by MBC-TV showed that 70 per cent criticized the impeachment, with 22.7 per cent supporting it. The poll had a margin of error of 2.8 per cent. KBS and SBS surveys also showed similar results. (passage omitted)
The Pakistan Newswire January 23, 2004 Friday Dhani Bux vows to commit self-immolation again before President Musharraf
District leader of Pakistan Peoples Party, Dhani Bux who had committed self-immolation for State persecution against Benair Bhutto and Asif Ali Zardar has said that if survived he would repeat the practice before Parliament and President Musharraf in Federal Capital, Islamabad. It may be mentioned here that Dhani Bux is under treatment at Liaquat National Hospital Karachi and said to be in a critical condition. He expressed these views while talking to representatives of electronic and print media here today. PPP spokesman, Munawar Soharwardi and a large number of party workers were also present on the occasion. Dhani Bux said that party leadership was angry with him for taking such an extreme step but he had no regrets and resolved that he would even sacrifice his life for the party and cause.
Agence France Presse -- English January 14, 2004 Wednesday Two elderly people set themselves on fire in Beijing
Two elderly people set themselves on fire close to Zhongnanhai in Beijing, where China's top leaders live, state media reported Wednesday.
The desperate couple lit a bonfire along the wall that surrounds Zhongnanhai on Tuesday evening before being transformed into "fireballs," the Xin Jing Bao said, citing witnesses
One of them died on the way to hospital while the other was in a critical condition, said the paper, which gave no reason for the self-immolations.
Public security officials and the police refused to comment when contacted by AFP, although the local fire department confirmed the incident.
"Yesterday evening at 6.57 pm we received a phone call asking for assistance," said firefighter Xiang Yunfeng.
When asked if the assistance involved two elderly people who had set themselves on fire, he said: "Yes."
Suicide is traditionally used as a form of protest in China.
Several self-immolations took place late last year around Tiananmen Square, although noone died, as the country's disenchanted sought out the symbolic birthplace of the communist state to voice their anger.
Some were linked to the ongoing forced evictions of city residents to make way for construction projects.
Deutsche Presse-Agentur FEATURE: Fiery protests show anger at China's "red-black" developers October 3, 2003, Friday Wang Baoguang is not the first Chinese citizen to set fire to himself to protest against alleged injustice and corruption in urban development, though most of his fellow protestors resort to less extreme means.
Wang's fiery protest greeted developers who smashed their way into his home in a Beijing suburb last week. He and his family believed they were offered inadequate compensation for their 140-square-metre courtyard-style home.
Wang, 35, had fought the developers for six months. He suffered 65-percent burns and remains in critical condition.
Just before his self-immolation, his 78-year-old father was arrested, along with Wang's wife, after he sat in the road to block a police car accompanying the developers. The developers then broke their way into Wang's home with an axe.
"My brother was also in the house at that moment," his sister Wang Suhua told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. "He was so angry that he poured petrol over himself and set light to it."
The Wangs are part of a growing movement of mainly urban residents who are resorting to increasingly desperate means to uphold their property rights.
The protestors claim developers give minimal notice of relocation and often intimidate residents or cut off utilities. They say families are rushed into moving out, promised rent-free accommodation then told to pay, or moved to new estates with few facilities and poor public transport.
Western urban development experts say cash-strapped local governments, pushing grandiose "urban beautification" plans, are forced to cooperate with developers.
Local Communist Party leaders want to create cities that look modern, "green" and orderly, while developers chase potentially large profits from high-rise residential and commercial buildings.
"Local governments used to take care of everything, including assigning new homes for the displaced," the government-run English-language newspaper China Daily said recently. "But as the pace (of redevelopment) picked up in the 1990s, the government could no longer afford to take on all the work alone."
The practice of contracting developers to relocate residents has helped produce the satirical phrase "red- black" to signify allegedly corrupt alliances between officials from the ruling Communist Party and "black societies".
Beijing lawyer Gao Zhicheng says it is "ludicrous" that disputes are normally settled by an agency or individual linked to the relocation office. "And even if the verdict is wrong, the house is gone anyway," Gao told China Daily.
Following the failure of several landmark court actions over the past 10 years, many protestors shun the legal system in the belief that government-appointed judges and court officials are bound to favour the developers.
Some frustrated families have tried to take their protests to the highest level. A few even planned demonstrations in Beijing's sensitive Tiananmen Square, the symbolic heart of China where pro- democracy, anti-corruption campaigners gathered in 1989.
Beijing police arrested 85 protestors from Shanghai on September 30, after learning that the group planned to petition the central government. The protestors were taken back to Shanghai and forced to undergo 15-day "training sessions", New York-based Human Rights in China (HRIC) said.
Another 200 residents protested outside Shanghai government offices on October 1, China's National Day. A lawyer who represented the Shanghai group was charged with "revealing state secrets", HRIC said. The State Complaints Bureau received 11,641 letters and 5,360 personal visits in the first eight months of this year from people claiming injustices in relocations, both figures up about 50 per cent from last year, the party newspaper People's Daily said. Violent protests and attempted suicides by housing protestors killed 26 people and injured 16 from January-July last year, state media quoted the Ministry of Construction as saying.
At least two other people reportedly set fire to themselves in separate property-related protests in China over the past six weeks.
A 45-year-old farmer from the eastern province of Anhui suffered burns after he set light to himself in Tiananmen Square on September 15. And in a case that attracted much media attention, 39-year-old Weng Biao died after burning himself at an office in charge of demolitions and relocations in the southern city of Nanjing.
Weng's neighbour in Nanjing, Chen Wulang, slashed his wrist and stood in front of bulldozers to win a temporary respite for his home, state media said.
The rate of compensation in Weng's district was set in 1998 but local property prices jumped by at least 30 per cent in the last two years, so his family demanded the current market price. In Beijing, the Wangs faced a similar situation. "We can't afford a new house at all," Wang Suhua said.
The southern city of Guangzhou has taken a lead in trying to redress the balance. It has issued new regulations requiring developers to pay compensation at market prices plus 20 per cent. The city government also guarantees a minimum sum for compensation and has outlawed the cutting of utilities to occupied properties.
Guangzhou acted after 13 years of relocations left a host of problems, with some people reportedly living in temporary housing for up to eight years because they had no way of suing developers who failed to honour promises of new apartments.
But change may be much slower in traditionally more bureaucratic city governments like those in Beijing and Nanjing, and will be too late for people like Weng and Wang.
Agence France Presse -- English October 1, 2003 Wednesday Laid-off Chinese worker sets himself on fire on National Day
A laid-off worker marked China's National Day Wednesday by setting fire to himself in Tiananmen Square, the latest in a series of self-immolations that analysts say reflect the increasing desperation of people across the country.
Yang Peiquan, 49, from central China's Hubei province, set fire to himself at 7:45 am (2345 GMT Tuesday) at the square's southeast corner as hordes of tourists thronged the popular tourist spot, the Xinhua news agency said.
Police immediately put out the fire, but Yang was hospitalized with minor injuries.
The report said the motive for Yang's actions was under investigation.
Another man was with Yang at the time but police did not provide details about him.
The self-immolation happened when the square was overflowing with hundreds of thousands of tourists celebrating the first day of the National Day holiday, which marks the 54th anniversary of the founding of communist-ruled China. As early as 6:07 am, some 250,000 people had amassed on the vast plaza in central Beijing to watch a flag raising ceremony.
Yang's desperate protest, though it took place at the opposite end of the square to the ceremony, would have been witnessed by many tourists.
The self-immolation ominously opened the week-long holiday, one of three designated annual "Golden Weeks" which the government hopes will boost spending in travel and retail sales, both severely affected by the outbreak of the pneumonia-like SARS disease in spring.
It is also the fourth reported self-immolation in a little over a month and comes just one week after a Beijing man doused himself with gasoline and set himself on fire as a developer tried to evict him and demolish his home.
Wang Baoguang's self-immolation on September 25 left him with burns to 65 percent of his body. He was still in critical condition this week, his sister said.
On September 15, a farmer from central China's Anhui province tried to set himself on fire under a portrait of revolutionary leader Mao Zedong facing the north side of Tiananmen Square to protest a government eviction scheme.
The farmer suffered light injuries.
And on August 22, a man charged into a government housing office in east China's Jiangsu province and killed himself by lighting his gasoline-doused body, state media reported.
The self-immolations come as the world's most populous country is preparing to become only the third country in history to send a man into space in an attempt to raise its international image and boost its technological prowess.
The Hong Kong-based Wen Wei Po Wednesday quoted sources saying the space flight will be launched "right after" a meeting of the Communist Party top brass which ends on October 14.
Analysts, however, said regardless of China's ambitions in space, incidents such as the self-immolation Wednesday show the Chinese government has yet to effectively address a host of domestic problems -- such as high unemployment and abuse of the poor -- which are threatening to create social unrest.
While the string of self-immolations could be partly a copycat phenomenon, they illustrate the consequences of suppressing popular protests and dissent and leaving no channel for the poor and wronged to seek help and justice, said Frank Lu, a Hong Kong-based rights activist.
"These people are taking such extreme actions because they have repeatedly tried to appeal to many government office in vain," Lu said.
"In their minds, setting themselves on fire will help them finally get the government's attention. They think that even if they die, it would be worthwhile because their family will get help."
In at least three of the cases, family members or friends were with the victims.
By noon Wednesday, Tiananmen Square was still packed with newly-arrived tourists, many oblivious to the self-immolation as they jostled for a good spot to snap photos while numerous police officers patrolled the square. Agence France Presse -- English June 19, 2003 Thursday Woman dies as People's Mujahedeen supporters pursue fiery protests in Europe
An Iranian woman died Thursday after setting herself on fire to protest a French crackdown on the People's Mujahedeen, as a spate of self-immolations by supporters of the Iranian opposition group spread to Rome.
Two men in the Italian capital torched themselves Thursday and another in the Swiss capital Bern despite an appeal by the leader of the organisation to end the fiery protests.
Sedighieh Mohageri died in a military hospital in Paris, one day after she set light to her clothing near the offices of the French counter-intelligence services (DST) near the Eiffel Tower, becoming the first fatality in the self-immolations.
She was one of three people -- two women and a man -- who set fire to their clothing in Paris on Wednesday. The two others were in a serious condition.
In Rome, two Iranians set themselves ablaze outside the French embassy, suffering severe burns to their legs and chests, but their lives were not in danger as firefighters immediately doused the flames engulfing them.
Another man was in critical condition after setting himself on fire during a pro-Mujahedeen protest in Bern, police said.
The incidents brought to eight the number of people who have set themselves on fire since Tuesday's raids, in which more than 1,200 officers swooped in on 13 sites northwest of Paris linked to the People's Mujahedeen -- classified as a terrorist group by the United States, the European Union and Iran.
In London, two men have staged similar protests since Tuesday's raids. A ninth protester, in Bern, doused his clothing with petrol but police intervened before he was able to ignite them.
Fearing continued fiery displays of outrage, Paris police have banned all demonstrations by the People's Mujahedeen until further notice, but supporters continued to stage impromptu marches Thursday, only to be rounded up each time.
The protesters in Paris are demanding the release of Maryam Rajavi, designated by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) -- an umbrella group dominated by the People's Mujahedeen -- as the "president-elect" of Iran.
Of the 165 people originally arrested on Tuesday, Rajavi and 21 others were still in preventive detention in France on Thursday.
France's top anti-terrorist judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere extended Rajavi's period of detention through Saturday, when she must be placed under judicial investigation or released.
In a message released Thursday by the group, Rajavi urged her fervent supporters not to continue their life-threatening protests, which she said left her "saddened and tormented", calling on them instead to stage peaceful rallies.
"I want to ask all of you now to refrain from self-immolation; otherwise I will become more concerned and aggrieved than I already am. However, continue your peaceful protests to achieve your goals," she said.
"I understand how you feel and know how tormented you are, given that in France, a country whose name and history are entwined with human rights, freedom and democracy, Iran's real freedom fighters are in prison cells," she added. Olivier Roy, a French political scientist specializing in Iranian affairs, called the People's Mujahedeen a "kind of sect", adding: "They are professionals in brainwashing -- you can see that with these self- immolations which assume a certain degree of incitement to fanaticism."
French officials have said the People's Mujahedeen intended to make France its base of operations after losing its foothold in Iraq following the US-led victory over the regime of Saddam Hussein.
In an interview published Thursday, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin justified the raids as being in the "national interest".
Agence France Presse -- English April 8, 2003 Tuesday Sixth Czech commits suicide by setting himself on fire
A 43-year-old Czech man committed suicide by setting himself on fire in a village outside Prague, in the sixth such self-immolation since early March, police said Tuesday.
After dousing himself in a liter of gasoline, he set himself on fire front of his partner and several others in the village of Velka Chyska, 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Prague.
The man, who was known to be mentally unbalanced, was soon due to start a prison sentence, according to police.
Since March 6, five other Czechs have committed or attempted suicide by setting themselves on fire as a gesture of political protest. Three died, two are in critical condition, severely burned.
Of the three who died, two left suicide notes to "protest against the evil generally tolerated in the whole world" and "dissatisfaction with the world today," particularly with the war in Iraq.
In 1969, Czech students Jan Palach and Jan Zajic committed suicide to protest the occupation of their country by Soviet troops, and the communist party's abandonment of nascent democratic reforms called for during the 1968 Prague Spring. Jan Palach has been celebrated as a national hero since.
Agence France Presse -- English April 2, 2003 Wednesday Wave of self-immolation suicides hits Czech Republic
In the past month three Czechs have committed suicide by setting themselves on fire and two others have been severely burnt after dousing themselves with flammable liquid in a bid to take their lives.
In the early hours of Wednesday, a 21-year-old student burnt himself to death in the eastern town of Pilsen and a 26-year-old man seriously injured himself in a Prague suburb, police said.
This wave of suicides and attempted suicides by self-immolation began on March 6 when a 19-year-old set fire to himself in Prague's Wenceslas Square, dying from his injuries.
The young man, identified as Zdenek A, who died on March 6 had left a letter of protest against the looming US-led war in Iraq and against living conditions in the Czech Republic.
In the same square, in January 1969, a Czech student had burnt himself to death in protest at the Soviet occupation of the then Czechoslovakia in August 1968. The student, Jan Palach, became a national hero, leading another young man, Zan Zajic, to imitate him the following month.
Wednesday's suicide victim in Pilsen left a note lamenting "the current state of the world", police said.
He died after dousing himself with a mixture of fuel and solvent and setting himself alight just after midnight.
The young man who attempted to kill himself in Prague that same night burnt about 70 percent of his body and remains in a critical condition, doctors said.
He was found covered in flames by men who worked at a filling station where he had apparently bought five liters (a gallon) of flammable liquid.
Two weeks ago, the burnt remains of a young woman were found in a cemetary in Brno in the east, while a 21-year-old mentally ill man in the central town of Policka was also badly burnt last month after trying to kill himself.
The Press Trust of India August 15, 2002 Thursday IMMOLATION
Yet another self immolation bid near Patna High CourtA 40-year-old employee of India's eastern state of Bihar Agriculture department Thursday made a bid to immolate himself inside the Patna High Court premises, police said.
This is the second self-immolation bid in and around capital's High Court during the past two days.
Police said the employee Chandan Bhattacharya set himself on fire by sprinkling petrol around his body in the morning in protest to alleged non-payment of salary for past several years.
Officer in-charge of Kotawali police station S S P Yadav told PTI patrolling policemen noticed Bhattacharya running out of the high court's premises and immediately tried to douse the flames.
Doctors attending on him at Patna Medical College Hospital said Bhattacharya had suffered 50 to 55 per cent burns and his condition was critical.
On Tuesday a resident of Khabra in Muzaffarpur district, Kamal Kumar, wrapped paper around him and set it on fire near Patna High Court after sprinkling petrol. Kumar was demanding a CBI probe into the killing of his father way back in 1995, police said.
Kumar was battling for his life at Patna Medical College Hospital with 90 per cent burns.
Agence France Presse -- English July 26, 2002 Friday Self-immolation rises among women in Iran's western Ilam province
Young women in Iran's western Ilam province are increasingly seeking to burn themselves to death to escape from the pressures of everyday life, including social restrictions, according to a monthly magazine.
"Ilam, Land of Burning Women," is the headline of the report in the July edition of Zanan (Women) magazine which tells the story of women and even teenagers who see a painful death as the only solution. Leila, 18, who has 80 percent burns, lies in the Mostafa Khomeini hospital in Ilam, one of up to three self- immolation patients who are delivered to this provincial hospital every week.
Facing certain death and barely able to speak, she told the magazine, "Now I am happy. I had no choice. I do not regret it. I wanted to die and not see all the suffering and misery of my family."
"One bread-eater less in the family" can help her parents, she added.
Manijeh Zibayii, a member of the Sarablayi city council in Ilam, says the economic and psychological pressures which women face on a daily basis makes them more vulnerable to seek drastic measures.
"The drug addiction of the spouse, the high number of children, forced marriages, economic poverty, and family disputes are among the difficulties which sometimes place an individual in a critical state of mind," she was quoted as saying.
"The heavy weight of economic difficulties is carried on the shoulders of women. Women endure a great deal of psychological pressure throughout the day when facing the wants of their children," she added.
An unnamed hospital nurse recalled a recent case of a 16-year-old, married off by her penniless father to a 70-year-old man, who set herself on fire the night of her wedding.
"When the girl realized that she could not do anything, she set herself on fire in the bathroom of her father's house on the night of her wedding," the nurse said.
"She did not last longer than two days."
The report gave no statistics on the number of suicide cases in Ilam which is home to some 700,000 people, but press reports in late 1999 said there had been close to 350 cases of attempted suicide in the province from March 1997 to March 1998, with self-immolation the trade-mark.
"Officials are not taking any effective measures to end this crisis. They are trying to hide the facts and make this phenomenon seem unimportant," said Farzaneh Farzadnia, a member of the Ilam Women's Society cited by the magazine.
A former member of the Ilam welfare organisation, only identified as Dr. Torabi, said the motive behind the self-immolation of women is not just a way to end life, but also a conscious warning to society.
"By burning, the person can display the extent of pain and despair she is enduring. The individual wants those around her to keep in mind her heart-breaking death, to have a guilty conscience and to think about their deeds and their behaviour," he said.