... Then the chief's home

More than 200 rioters then turned to Ma's house in Xindu No 1 village, which is 10 minutes' walk from the police station, he said. Only his 74-year-old mother, his elder brother and his cousin were at home. They were having traditional Tibetan buttered tea when the mob arrived.

Its members dismantled walls of the courtyard and entered the house. Ma's mother hid in the prayer room and his brother in the toilet to avoid being hurt by the large stones, batons and long knives the intruders carried.

On Wednesday last week, large rocks still lay on the floors. The television set, bed and other furniture were destroyed. So was the prayer room. A car belonging to Ma's brother was overturned in the courtyard and smashed. A cache of 35,000 yuan ($5,550) under a pillow was taken.

"How could they destroy the prayer room, the holy place for Buddhists?" Ma's mother Ma Guixiang kept asking. She also refused to go back to the house again.

Ma's family and the neighbors had been happily celebrating Chinese New Year, and spring couplets - traditional two-line writings on red paper about new-year wishes - were posted on their front doors. Many households removed the couplets after the incident.

"We are Tibetans, but we also celebrate the Spring Festival and post spring couplets. We dare not do it in the future," said a woman who is Ma's neighbor but declined to be identified. "I am shocked to see what they have done to Ma's house. The mobs need to be punished by law. They destroyed our peaceful life."

Residents are back to Jinma Square in Seda, Sichuan, after the Jan 24 attack. Photo by Feng Yongbin / China Daily