Kathmandu , Nepal ( CNN ) -- A Tibetan man set himself on fire in front of a famous Buddhist shrine in the Nepalese capital on Wednesday , police said , becoming the latest Tibetan to adopt this harrowing form of protest over Chinese rule . Read more : The politics of Tibetan self-immolations . The man , believed to be in his early 20s , came out of a nearby restaurant doused in petrol and set himself alight in front of the revered Boudhanath Stupa in Kathmandu , said Keshav Adhikari , a police spokesman . `` The whole of his body is burnt , '' Adhikari said , adding that the Tibetan was not able to communicate when he was taken to a hospital for treatment . Authorities are still trying to identify the man . Read more : China sentences 2 Tibetans over self-immolations . Self-immolation has become a dramatic and desperate form of protest in recent years for ethnic Tibetans unhappy with Chinese rule . Tibetan advocacy groups say the number of self-immolations by Tibetans inside China since February 2009 stood at 99 at the end of January . Several others have set themselves on fire in other countries , including India . Opinion : Tibetans reject Chinese rule with one voice . Self-immolation began as a form of protest among Tibetans in China in February 2009 , when a young monk set himself ablaze . In March 2011 , another young monk followed in his footsteps , becoming the first to die . Scores of others have since followed suit . Independently verifying the reported self-immolations inside China is often difficult because of restrictions on reporting from the restive areas and the reluctance of local officials to comment on the accounts provided by foreign-based Tibetan advocacy groups . Beijing has taken a tough line on the protesters and their associates , accusing the Dalai Lama , the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader , of fomenting unrest inside Chinese borders . Read more : How many more Tibetans will sacrifice themselves ? Last month , a court in southwestern China gave heavy sentences to two ethnic Tibetans convicted of murder for `` inciting '' people to set themselves of fire . The Dalai Lama , who fled to India in 1959 after a failed uprising , has long denied China 's assertion that he 's seeking Tibetan independence . He says he wants only enough autonomy to protect their traditional Buddhist culture . Beijing rejects accusations of oppression , saying that under its rule , living standards have greatly improved for the Tibetan people . It makes centuries-old historical claims on the region .
`` The whole of his body is burnt , '' a police spokesman says . The man doused himself in petrol and set himself on fire near a shrine . He was rushed to hospital but died there from burns to the chest and abdomen.