Man dies after setting himself on fire at India temple protest

A man has died after setting himself on fire at a protest over a temple in India.

Venugopalan Nair, 49, suffered 60 per cent burns and died in hospital. Hindustan Times reports he set himself alight near to the location of a sit-in by political party BJP, against what he believed to be the Kerala government’s anti-Sabarimala stand.

On 28 September India’s Supreme Court ended a centuries-old ban on women between 10 and 50-years-old entering the Sabarimala temple.

Large-scale protests have taken place since the ruling to stop women completing the journey, with multiple arrests reported.