Pallegama Hemarathana is accused of abusing an 11-year-old lady in a Buddhist temple in 2022.
Printed On 30 Might 2026
Sri Lanka’s Buddhist hierarchy has suspended a distinguished senior monk accused of sexually abusing a baby, within the religiously conservative nation’s highest-profile case involving an area clergyman.
In uncommon disciplinary motion, 71-year-old Pallegama Hemarathana was stripped of his obligations on Saturday because the chief custodian of a extremely commemorated Ficus plant grown from a sapling of a tree believed to have sheltered the Buddha.
Advisable Tales
record of three gadgetsfinish of record
“The Council of Monks of the Malwatte Chapter determined immediately to droop Ven. Hemarathana till the conclusion of the authorized proceedings in opposition to him,” stated a press release issued by the chief monks.
Police arrested Hemarathana on Might 9 following allegations he sexually abused an 11-year-old lady in 2022 on the commemorated Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi temple in Anuradhapura, 200km (125 miles) north of Colombo. Hemarathana was detained throughout his keep at a non-public hospital within the capital Colombo, the place he had checked in for remedy because the legal investigation progressed.
Authorities stated the sufferer’s mom had additionally been arrested for aiding and abetting the monk.
Hemarathana has since been granted bail whereas a courtroom has barred him from travelling overseas.
The temple attracts hundreds of individuals day by day who pay homage on the tree Buddhists imagine is intently related to the identical Ficus that sheltered the Buddha when he attained enlightenment.
Hemarathana’s suspension got here on the identical day Sri Lanka celebrated Vesak, the anniversary of the Buddha’s beginning, enlightenment and loss of life.
There have been a number of circumstances of clergy abusing youngsters in Sri Lanka, however Hemarathana is essentially the most senior monk to be accused of such a criminal offense.
Final month, 22 monks have been arrested at Colombo’s worldwide airport after 110kg (242lbs) of hashish was discovered hidden of their baggage, in what was the most important drug smuggling discovery ever within the facility. The monks have remained in custody pending prosecution, however haven’t been suspended from the priesthood.
