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

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A senior Buddhist monk in Sri Lanka was arrested for the alleged sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl, marking a significant incident involving clergy in the country. The monk's case has drawn attention and raised concerns about abuse in religious institutions.

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...