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Tibetan monk Dargye, who was detained and forcibly taken away by Chinese police from Lhasa, the capital of Tibet, on August 5, 2021, was secretly handed a seven-year prison sentence, according to a report by Tibet Times (TT).
The Chinese authorities accused Dargye of performing prayers and making religious offerings to the Dalai Lama, as well as helping a few Tibetan monks escape from Tibet. On August 5, 2021, he was arrested in Lhasa along with his relative Tsering and a nun named Choekyi. While Tsering and Choekyi were released after a few months, Dargye's location and condition have remained unknown, the TT report stated. Earlier, on September 17, 2025, residents reached out to Lhasa Police seeking information about the monk's whereabouts and health. In response, police assured them that Venerable Dhargye would be released soon, was not facing any issues, and was in good condition. Trusting these misleading assurances from Chinese authorities, locals were unable to bring attention to his critical situation beyond Tibet until now. The absence of clear information regarding his condition reflects a worsening crisis in Tibet, where the Chinese government continues to practice suppression, arbitrary detention, and enforced disappearances, as highlighted in the TT report. Venerable Dhargye, currently around 63 years old, is originally from Serta in Walshul, Golog (Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture), and is the son of Choephel and Choelha. He is affiliated with Sera Monastery. Before his detention, he lived in Lhasa, where he undertook pilgrimages to important Tibetan Buddhist sites, engaged in spiritual retreats, and received teachings from various Tibetan lamas. He was widely respected as a learned monk known for conducting consecration rituals of statues, scriptures, and stupas, and was regarded as a trustworthy and dependable figure, according to the TT report. (ANI)
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