In the central Kairouan region, a young man from Tunisia committed suicide by self-immolation as a form of protest against the police, according to his family on Friday.
Two days after setting himself on fire in front of a police station, 22-year-old Yassine Selmi, a construction worker, he was passed away on Thursday in a Tunisian hospital, according to his father, Mansour Selmi, who spoke to AFP.
According to his father, he was in Bou Hajla, a small town in Kairouan, trying to "resolve a fight between two people and police officers near a police station" when the officers threatened to arrest him.
The father continued, saying that the young man later returned to the police station carrying a gasoline container and "set himself on fire in protest" over the threats made by the officers.
He vowed to pursue justice for his son's passing.
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Since the street vendor Mohamed Bouazizi's self-immolation in late 2010 ignited the Arab Spring and resulted in the overthrow of former dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Tunisia has witnessed a significant number of people set themselves on fire.
The non-coastal areas of Tunisia that have been most affected by the country's economic crisis have seen a high concentration of cases.
The North African nation's debt-to-GDP ratio is currently approximately 80%, while annual inflation can reach 10% and the youth unemployment rate is 40%.
Only a few days prior, a street vendor in the seaside city of Sfax set herself on fire following an altercation with law enforcement. This most recent incident occurred.
According to the local media, the woman, who was originally from Kairouan, had severe burns and was brought to a hospital.
A professional football player from Kairouan who also plays for a local team, Nizar Aissaoui, self-immolated last year in protest of what he called "the police state."
When it comes to suicides, illiteracy, and unemployment, the larger Kairouan region leads the country.
According to the non-governmental organization FTDES recorded 26 of the 147 documented and attempted suicides in the country in 2023.
