'Spark' for self-immolation unwilling to do the same(3)

Jokba burned himself to death the next day.

His father never knew his plan of self-immolation. "I hate the instigators," said Palho.

Khobi also could not figure out how his grandson Gepal could kill himself in such a cruel way on March 10.

"Nobody wants their sons to self-immolate. I don't know what problems they have," said Khobi.

"His parents have not made troubles for him. They have good clothing and food, how could they end their lives?" he added.

Gepal, 17, was greatly affected by some monks in the Kirti Monastery who supported "Tibet independence." He kept photos of the 14th Dalai Lama, the Kirti Living Buddha and self-immolation practitioners on his cell phone.

He gradually developed the notion that would become a hero through self-immolation. Spurred on by his peers in the monastery, Gepal burned himself in a meadow in Kaxi Village in the town of Longzang.

Song Guangjun, director of the surgical department at Aba County People's Hospital, has received dozens of victims of self-immolation.

"They are all young boys, around 16 or 17," he said. "Their skin gets thinner and rots after being burned."

The patients are not willing to talk to doctors at first, but they talk more later, Song said. "If they say they feel nervous, that means they are thirsty and want to drink. They have a strong desire to survive."

"When they leave the hospital, they thank us," he said.

"We feel also pain as doctors. Our children are the same age as them." he said. "Their lives are ruined after being burned."