MITHI: A teenage boy ‘sacrificed’ himself by throwing himself into fire for which he had arranged a pyre outside a temple in Pooranwah village near Nagarparkar, it was reported on Monday.

Tejo Kolhi told the area police and local reporters that his 16-year-old son, Nanji, a student of class-IX, had been devoting much time worshipping in the temple and was often seen seeking mukti (freedom from the world to become immortal). Mukti is a religious practice abandoned long ago in Hinduism.

Mr Kolhi said his son had become a fanatic and his utterances, movements and attitudes in young age made others realise that he was desperate to “meet death”.

He and other residents of the neighbourhood said Nanji on Sunday arranged a pyre outside the temple in the village, set it on fire and threw himself onto it.

Dr Aurangzeb Sand, who performed the post-mortem examination of what were described as the charred remains of the boy’s body, told Dawn that even the bones were totally destroyed in the fire.

It was said to be a rare case of self-sacrifice in the Thar region in living memory.

No FIR of the incident was registered by the area police.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2017