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Key Takeaways✦ Atlas AI
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Senior monk arrested for alleged abuse.
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Highest-profile clergy case in Sri Lanka.
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Victim's mother also faces charges.
Atlas AI
Sri Lankan authorities arrested Pallegama Hemarathana, a 71-year-old senior Buddhist monk, on Saturday in Colombo over allegations he sexually abused an 11-year-old girl in 2022, police said. The alleged assault took place at a prominent temple in Anuradhapura, about 125 miles north of the capital, where Hemarathana is chief priest.
Police described the case as the highest-profile arrest of a member of the Buddhist clergy in the country on such charges.
The arrest came a day asourceser a local court in Anuradhapura imposed a foreign travel ban on the monk, according to the report. Police said Hemarathana was taken into custody at a private hospital in Colombo where he was receiving treatment.
Authorities also arrested the girl’s mother on
Authorities also arrested the girl’s mother on suspicion of aiding and abetting the monk, police said. Hemarathana is expected to be presented before a judge, and police said further action would be taken under the direction of the magistrate.
The monk has not publicly commented on the allegations, the repoSources said, and he is scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday, according to the.
Hemarathana holds a prominent religious role in Anuradhapura, an ancient city recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. He is the chief custodian of a Bodhi tree sapling that is believed to have been grown from a cutting of the tree in India that sheltered the Buddha when he attained enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago, according to the report.
The repoSources said Hemarathana also leads eight
The repoSources said Hemarathana also leads eight revered temples located along a key Buddhist pilgrimage route. The arrest comes amid other recent cases involving Buddhist clergy in Sri Lanka and the wider region, including the detention of 22 monks at Sri Lanka’s main international airport in a drug case, and separate incidents in Thailand involving allegations of embezzlement and drug use among monks.
The case is expected to proceed through Sri Lanka’s courts, with the magistrate’s decisions and any additional filings likely to shape the next steps in the investigation.
