DHARAMSHALA, September 25: Three Tibetans have been injured after sustaining injuries due to beatings by drunk Chinese police officers in Chentsa County in Malho Tibet Autonomous Prefecture.
The assault took place on the second day of an annual festival of archery contest from Sept. 10-12 in Markuthang town. Drunk policemen asked Tibetans to sit with them for drink which the Tibetans refused.
The Tibetans were warned that the festival would be forced to close down early if they did not join the policemen in drinking.
A Tibetan man named Wangchuk argued as to why the Tibetans were being forced to drink against their wishes, according to a source. The policemen immediately put him in a waiting police van.
Wangchuk and a friend named Tenzin Rinchen tried to intervene but were also forced into the vehicle. The policemen beat them as they took them to the Chentsa county detention center.
“That night, about eight policemen brought in boxes of beer, hung the Tibetans from the ceiling, and after drinking struck them with the empty bottles on their ribs and knees, later forcing them to the floor and urinating on them,” the Tibetan source told RFA Tibetan service.
Tenzin Rinchen has been seriously injured due to the beatings that he had internal bleeding fir which he was rushed to the Malho prefecture hospital for treatment.
“Next day, he was moved to a hospital in [the provincial capital] Xining, which reported that he had suffered six broken ribs. But after being treated there for a week, a group of Chentsa police suddenly arrived and took him back to a hospital in the county to be treated.”
“His condition was reported as critical, and he could neither eat nor speak,” the source said.
Wangchuk and his brother, who were also severely beaten in detention, were released on Sept. 22. However, there is no information on their physical status.
