The head monk of a Buddhist meditation centre Bhante Shanghpriya Sujoy in Bihar’s Bodh Gaya was arrested on Wednesday on charges of sexually abusing more than a dozen boys from Assam studying at the centre, police said.
The children said Bhante Shanghpriya Sujoy used to call them in their bedroom and sexually abuse them. They also said they were beaten up by him and even threatened with dire consequences if they refused to oblige him.They have been studying at the centre for more than a year.
They also showed marks on their bodies to senior police officers, who talked to them after they complained about the sexual and the physical abuse.
The parents, who reached Bodh Gaya from Karbi Anglong district in Assam after getting the information about the abuse from their children over the phone, said the head monk should be punished severely.
A first information report was lodged at Bodh Gaya police station under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012 on Wednesday after the children, aged between six and 12 years, and their parents registered a complaint.
Gaya’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rajeev Mishra said the police acted soon after they got the information about the alleged abuse and arrested the accused from Mastipur village. The accused is also from Assam.
The police also recorded the statements of the children and their parents. They were gathering details of the non-government organisation Prajanna Social Welfare Trust, which runs and manages the Prasanna Jyoti Buddhist Novice School and Meditation Centre. Mishra said if any fraud was detected, an FIR would be lodged against all the members of the trust.
Mishra said the police would initiate the recording of statement of the victims before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 before getting them examined medically.
He said all the 15 children and their parents would be placed under police security at Assam Bhawan near the Vishnupad shrine.
