A prominent Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka has been arrested over allegations of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl, marking the most high-profile case involving a local religious figure in the country, authorities said, News.Az reports, citing Al Jazeera.

Police detained 71-year-old Pallegama Hemarathana on Saturday at a private hospital in Colombo, where he had been receiving treatment as a criminal investigation into the allegations progressed.

Hemarathana, the chief prelate of Colombo, is accused of committing the alleged abuse in 2022 at a highly revered temple in Anuradhapura. Authorities also confirmed that the victim’s mother has been arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the monk.

Police said in a statement that they will proceed with further action based on instructions from the magistrate. The arrest was carried out under orders from the chief magistrate in Anuradhapura after child protection authorities raised concerns about delays in the investigation.

According to reports, Hemarathana had been under a foreign travel ban prior to his arrest. The court instructed police to detain him and present him before the judiciary “without delay.”

In addition to his role in Colombo, Hemarathana serves as the chief of eight prominent temples along a major Buddhist pilgrimage route and is also the custodian of a sacred tree believed to descend from the Bodhi tree in India, under which the Buddha attained enlightenment more than 2,500 years ago.

While Sri Lanka has previously recorded cases involving members of the clergy accused of child abuse, this case involves one of the most senior monks ever to face such allegations.

Separately, authorities noted that last month 22 monks were arrested at Colombo’s international airport after 110 kilograms of cannabis were discovered in their luggage, marking the largest drug smuggling seizure ever recorded at the facility.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev