Officials in the ethnically-Tibetan prefecture of Aba, Sichuan Province told the Global Times Tuesday that the charred remains of a woman discovered on March 12 in Aba's Ruoergai county was the result of a homicide, dismissing earlier media reports of self-immolation. 

Local police said 28-year-old Guangqiu Ome (name transcribed from Chinese report) was strangled to death by her husband, who later burned her body on the morning of March 12. The husband, 32-year old Drolma Gya, is now in police custody.

According to Aba prefecture media officer Jiang Zuquan, the strangling occurred after a fight escalated between the couple over Drolma Gya's alcohol addiction at their home at Dazha township on the evening of March 11. Drolma then moved the body to a nearby building at around 2 am the next day and set her body ablaze with gasoline.

Jiang added he was certain the case was not a protest against Chinese policy in Tibetan-inhabited areas as reported by Radio Free Asia. 

The news follows police confirmation of a 27-year-old Kirti Monastery monk named Thokmey who self-immolated in his room on Saturday and was declared dead at a hospital in Maerkang, capital of Aba prefecture.

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