Kazakh Woman Dies In Hospital After Setting Herself Alight

Aqmaral Akhmetova reacts outside the Kazakh Prosecutor-General's Office after the death of her mother Maira Rysmanova in Astana on December 14

ASTANA -- A Kazakh woman who was hospitalized after she set herself on fire to protest her son's conviction on drug charges has died in hospital.

Maira Rysmanova's relatives say she died in a medical clinic in Astana early on December 14.

Rysmanova poured gasoline on herself and set herself on fire in front of the Prosecutor-General's Office in Astana on December 6.

Rysmanova's son was found guilty of illegal drug possession and sentenced to 4 1/2 years in jail in June 2015.

After Rysmanova's death was announced, a spokesman for the Prosecutor-General's Office, Erzhan Galeev, said that Rysmanova had been aware that her son's case was being reinvestigated.

Rysmanova's daughter, Aqmaral Akhmetova, protested in front of the Prosecutor-General's Office on December 14, demanding justice.

With reporting by newtines.kz