A student who torched himself to protest the Indian army's sweeping powers in the troubled north-eastern state of Manipur died on Monday in the first death in a month of street protests, police said.
Pebam Chittaranjan, 28, publicly doused himself with kerosene and set himself ablaze Sunday on India's Independence Day to demand an end to an anti-terror law that lets troops shoot on sight and detain without warrant.
He suffered burns to 80 percent of his body and died Monday in hospital in Imphal, the capital of the state bordering Myanmar, a police spokesman said.
Security reinforcements were rushed onto the streets fearing news of the death would ignite more unrest, police said.
Manipur has been rocked by protests since the alleged killing in military custody of a 30-year-old woman, Thangjam Manorama, on July 11. Paramilitary forces say she was a leading rebel and died in a gunbattle.
Manipur's leader, Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh, agreed last week to lift troops' special powers in selected areas including Imphal. But protesters want a full withdrawal of the act - which Singh vowed Sunday to reimpose throughout the state if protests do not let up.
Manipur is one of India's most insurgency-torn states. More than 10,000 people have died in two decades of separatist violence.
At least 15 people, including seven children, were killed Sunday in an explosion by suspected rebels in another north-eastern state, Assam. Assam's chief minister, Tarun Gogoi, said the attack showed the need for troops to have special powers.