A government statement released Thursday said previous foreign media reports on two Tibetans killed by police in Aba County of southwest China's Sichuan Province were "purely fictitious."

The fact is an elderly woman died of illness on April 16.

According to the statement, the 86-year-old female herder died of lung disease at her home in Aba Tibetan-Qiang Autonomous Prefecture. The body had been kept at home for six days before a relative of the deceased took it to a local monastery for a prayer ritual.

Later, the relative contacted another monastery -- the Kirti Monastery -- for a prayer ritual, but a Lama said the monastery didn't hold prayer services on that day. So the relative took the body directly to the sky burial site for a sky burial ceremony.

Previous overseas reports, citing the International Campaign for Tibet, said two elderly villagers were beaten to death by the police during a security crackdown at the Kirti Monastery.

The statement reiterated that no casualty or accident occurred during the legal education at the Kirti monastery.

All monks at the Kirti Monastery are learning the basics of the Chinese Constitution, Criminal Law and regulations on religious affairs, in line with a local government circular issued on April 22.

The government's decision to enforce legal education at the monastery followed the tragic death of Rigzin Phuntsog, a 16-year-old Kirti monk who set himself on fire on March 16.