Nepal, July 10 -- Nepali Congress Chief Whip Basana Thapa on Friday said the death of 25-year-old Ganesh Nepali has laid bare the state's failure to address the grievances of ordinary citizens, accusing the government of responding with indifference instead of compassion.

Addressing a meeting of the House of Representatives, Thapa said Nepali was driven to set himself on fire by what she described as "state oppression."

She criticized the authorities for allegedly failing to dispatch an ambulance after Nepali set himself ablaze outside the Department of Passports, claiming that police dragged him away "like a criminal" instead of rescuing him.

"A young man set himself on fire because of state oppression, yet the state remained a mute ...