American man burns himself to death in India

An American man has died after setting himself on fire in an abandoned Buddhist center in northwestern India, leaving a cryptic suicide note that blamed his death on "cruel incidents" in his homeland and India, police said.

An American man has died after setting himself on fire in an abandoned Buddhist center in northwestern India, leaving a cryptic suicide note that blamed his death on "cruel incidents" in his homeland and India, police said.

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The charred body of Jeff Canabel, a 72-year-old Californian, was found on Wednesday by villagers at a meditation site in Rajasthan state, police superintendent Mohan Singh said.

"I am killing myself because of cruel incidents in both the US and in India," Canabel wrote in a note, according to police.

The note contained a request that only police handle his body and instructions that the 45,000 rupees ($1,000) in his bag be given to the poor. It did not explain his motivations further. Canabel had renounced US citizenship in 2009 and had been living in India since 1995.

Police said he had recently been visiting villages in the Rajasthan to talk to people about the teachings of India's independence leader Mohandas K Gandhi.