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Sri Lankan Buddhist monk arrested over alleged sex abuse of 11-year-old girl

Sri Lankan authorities arrested a senior Buddhist monk on Saturday for the alleged sexual abuse of an underage girl, police said, marking the highest-profile case…

By Samantha Johnson / May 9, 2026

Sri Lankan authorities arrested a senior Buddhist monk on Saturday for the alleged sexual abuse of an underage girl, police said, marking the highest-profile case involving clergy in the country.

Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, was arrested at a private hospital in the capital Colombo where he had sought treatment over the weekend amid an investigation into the alleged abuse of the 11-year-old girl in 2022.

The crime is alleged to have taken place at a highly venerated temple in Anuradhapura, around 200km (125 miles) north of Colombo, where Hemarathana is the chief priest.

Buddhist monk Pallegama Hemarathana (C) walks next to Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (4th R) and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (4th L) at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi temple in Anuradhapura in 2025. Photo: Handout via AFP
Buddhist monk Pallegama Hemarathana (C) walks next to Sri Lanka’s President Anura Kumara Dissanayake (4th R) and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (4th L) at the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi temple in Anuradhapura in 2025. Photo: Handout via AFP

“We will be guided by the magistrate on further action,” a police statement said on Saturday.

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The monk will soon be presented before a judge.

Authorities added that the victim’s mother has also been arrested for aiding and abetting the monk.

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The development comes a day after a local court in Anuradhapura imposed a foreign travel ban on the monk.

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