Zhang Jimin's stand against the bulldozers ended with his own death.
The family of the 46-year-old Chinese farmer claims he was burnt alive by thugs hired by the local government after he refused to move to make way for a new highway, but local authorities say he set his home on fire.
"You can see that his clothes are still relatively complete. If my uncle really poured gasoline over himself and set himself on fire, wouldn't all the clothes be burned off?" his nephew told CNN.
The family believes the thugs barred Mr Jimin’s door with a metal bar and then set the house alight with him still inside.
But the Pingyi County Government said a preliminary investigation had ruled that Mr Jimin had set the fire himself.
As rapid development overtakes many parts of the Chinese countryside homeowners are increasingly under pressure to sell their properties to make way for new roads and other buildings.
Many landowners are left with little or no compensation according to an Amnesty International report from 2012 and sometimes confrontations end in violence and death.
Mr Jimin's nephew told CNN his uncle had turned down the government's offer of compensation because it was not enough.
"Of course he was unwilling. The terms they offered were too low and unacceptable," he said.
In China, a "nail house" is a home whose resident refuses to leave in order to make way for new construction.
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