Tibet boy recalls horror in China

RECALLING A NIGHTMARE: The 15-year-old recalls being tortured by Chinese police and hard labour in prison.

ibnlive.com is on mobile now. Read news, watch videos
be a Citizen Journalist. Log on to m.ibnlive.com NOW!

Related Stories

• Trade through Nathu La begins amid fresh border row

• Malegaon blast accused Dhawade alleges torture by ATS

• Tibet scores a point in Delhi as China plays hard to get

Top Headlines

Top Videos

Most Popular

• Gujarat dry status an ideological hangover? 

• India dry, Pawar says well-stocked for 13 months | Drought diary 

• Manmohan, Gilani fix up meeting without a date 

• India puts it in writing: Pak planned 26/11 

• Burger King apologises to Hindus for offensive ad 

• SC takes up plea against gay sex, issues notice 

• Suspected Dawood aide acquitted in fake currency case 

• Another 'lover' arrested at Sania Mirza's house 

• Mumbai, Pune and Delhi face 30-40 pc water shortage 

• Politicos get into the ABC of Varun's Z-plus security 

• MP drought-hit 

• Sariska tigers siblings, incest dangerous: Experts 

• 2016 Games contenders go all out to woo voters 

• Watch: Zardari admits to nurturing terrorists 

• SC takes up plea against gay sex, issues notice 

• CJ: Delhi-based builders make off with money 

• Pune reels under 40 per cent water cuts 

• RTI against college lands DCE student in trouble 

• Sports officer attacked for fighting corruption 

• Watch: Ferreira talks about sports and Union Budget 

• Forbes India: 20 stocks you must own 

• Dry state Gujarat reels under hooch tragedy 

• Burger King apologises to Hindus for offensive ad 

• India puts it in writing: Pak planned 26/11 

• Army honours Mohanlal with Lieutenant Colonel post 

• Another 'lover' arrested at Sania Mirza's house 

• MP drought-hit 

• Sariska tigers siblings, incest dangerous: Experts 

• Mamata dismisses corporate structure for railways 

• Mysore: PFI activists clash with police, lathicharged 

Photogallery

Find us on Facebook | Join IBNLive community

Stay ahead with G-Talk Buddy | Click now!

New Delhi: A Tibetan boy Jamyang Samten, who survived an attack by Chinese border guards, is now telling his story. The 15-year-old recalls being tortured by Chinese police and hard labour in prison.

The story dates back to September last year when 75 Tibetans, including many children, were making their way over the 19,000 feet high Nanpa La Pass in the Himalayas. Their destination was Nepal and then India.

But they were detected by Chinese border guards who opened fire on them. While a Buddhist nun and another person were killed in the gunfire, 41 of them managed to escape.

Thirty-two others were caught and detained and one of them was Samten. "The border police put their guns to our heads and threatened to kill us. We were then taken to Shigatse and interrogated. They wanted to know who was guiding us out of Tibet to Nepal," he recalls.

Samten says he was taken to a labour camp and questioned over three days. He says he was also tortured with electric cattle prods. He and others were forced to dig ditches, build fences and work on fields.

Fortunately for them, a Romanian film crew in the area shot the entire incident and an international uproar ensued.

His detention lasted 48 days after which he and the others were released. Samten then paid guides to take him to Nepal. He is now in Dharmasala.

Samten is one of the lucky ones. Each year, thousands of Tibetans trek over Himalayan passes to Nepal and then India. They say the only way they can preserve their Tibetan traditions is in Dharmasala. But many never make it.