Accidental Hero

In protest of a repressive regime, a courageous old monk burned himself alive. Several people followed his example in separate incidents. The self-immolation turned public opinion against the elected president and brought his regime to the brink of collapse. The activists saw this as an effective tactic and started to recruit people for that goal. They found a monk who agreed to carry out the self-immolation. Unfortunately, the young man got cold feet and backed out at the last minute. This put the activists in a bind, because media invitations had already been sent. They had no choice but to drug the young monk and bring him to the site. There, they assisted him by dousing him with gasoline and setting him ablaze. His death sent shock waves around the world and helped to inspire a major coup.