Phuntsok Wangmo, born in 1973, was a nun of Garu Nunnery at the time of her arrest on 25 May 1994. She and four other nuns from the same nunnery took part in a peaceful pro-independence demonstration in Lhasa’s Barkhor district, during which they chanted slogans calling for Tibetan freedom. Shortly after the demonstration began, all five nuns were arrested and transferred to Gutsa Detention Centre.

Following their detention, Phuntsok Wangmo and Phuntsok Pelyang were sentenced to six years’ imprisonment and transferred to Drapchi Prison, where they have been serving their sentences. The other nuns arrested in the same incident were Ngawang Namdrol, Phuntsok Sangmo, and Namdrol Kunsel.