Bodh Gaya: 15 child monks sexually abused by Buddhist monk in Bihar to appear in court to record statements today

Fifteen child monks from Assam who were allegedly physically and sexually abused by a Buddhist monk in Bodh Gaya in Bihar will be produced before a judicial magistrate on Thursday to record their testimonies under the relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), according to media reports. This comes a day after the accused Buddhist monk, Bhante Sanghpriya, was taken into custody  for interrogation after the boys, aged 6-12 years, from Prasanna Jyoti Buddhist School and Meditation Centre, a school-cum-meditation centre, in Mastipur complained about him. [caption id=“attachment_5076661” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of the Buddhist meditation centre where the alleged abuse of 15 child monks took place. ANI[/caption] Superintendent of Police (City), Gaya, Anil Kumar said the monk was being interrogated by Town Deputy SP Rajkumar Shah. The monk ran an institution called “Prasanna Jyoti Buddhist School and Meditation Centre” at Mastipur village in Bodh Gaya where the 15 children — all hailing from Karbi Anglong district in Assam — were studying. According to reports, the sexual abuse surfaced after one of the child monks escaped from the school and reached home in Assam. After learning about the child’s return, the parents of the other children who lived around his home then reached Bodh Gaya to take their children home. When the parents sought to know about the matter, the accused monk expelled all 15 victims from the institute. The children were questioned by the station house officer of Mahila police station. They will also be taken for medical tests, based on the results of which a case may be lodged against the monk. This incident comes to light at a time when authorities are investigating the Muzaffarpur shelter home scandal. The sexual assault of 34 girls over a period of time at the Bihar government-funded shelter home came to light after a social audit was conducted by the Mumbai-based Tata Institute of Social Sciences. With inputs from PTI