Jailed monk takes poison
16/05/2005 - 08:18:08A monk drank poison and was rushed to a hospital minutes after becoming the first Buddhist clergyman to be convicted of child abuse in Sri Lanka.
The saffron-robed monk was found guilty of abusing a 16-year-old girl in 2001 and was given the maximum 20-year penalty by the high court.
Soon after the sentence, the monk drank from a bottle he had concealed in his robes and collapsed. He was rushed to a hospital.
Reports of child abuse by Buddhist priests have increased in recent years, but this is the first conviction of a monk on abuse charges.
Sri Lanka’s monks are a powerful group in the Buddhist-majority country and play a major role in moulding the island’s political and social fabric.
