Sherab Ngawang was a 17-year-old Tibetan nun from Drok Tsikha and is believed to be the youngest Tibetan political prisoner to have died as a result of Chinese persecution. She was arrested in August 1989 for participating in a peaceful protest in Lhasa and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. During her detention at Trisam Prison, she was subjected to severe torture, including electric shocks, beatings, and prolonged solitary confinement.

Released on medical grounds in February 1995, Sherab Ngawang was critically ill, suffering from serious kidney and lung damage reportedly caused by prison abuse. She died on 17 April 1995, just two months after her release. Witnesses in exile stated that she was only 12 years old at the time of her arrest, but her age was allegedly falsified to detain her with adult prisoners. Independent medical reports confirmed injuries consistent with repeated torture, despite official claims that she died from cerebral tuberculosis—an explanation rejected by Amnesty International.