A controversial spiritual leader, whose supporters believe he is the reincarnation of Buddha, has been arrested in Nepal over sexual abuse charges, according to local police. Ram Bahadur Bomjan, popularly called ‘Buddha Boy’ in local media, was arrested Tuesday evening while “absconding in the case of sexual exploitation of a minor,” the police said in a statement.
An arrest warrant against him was issued in 2020, according to the statement, “in the case of sexual abuse of a minor girl,” who was allegedly living as a nun at his ashram in the Bara district, south of the capital Kathmandu.
Besides rape charges, Bomjan also faces accusations of potential involvement in the disappearance of four of his disciples from his hermitages. But no cases have yet been registered at the court relating to the missing persons, police said.
“We will present him at the District Court in Sarlahi on Thursday,” Senior Superintendent of Police Dinesh Acharya told the Post. “He will be kept in police custody in Sarlahi on Wednesday.”Bomjan had been in hiding since the District Court, Sarlahi on February 6, 2020, issued an arrest warrant against him as per a police request. In July 2020, a case of sexual exploitation was filed against Bomjan in the District Court, Sarlahi.
In the chargesheet, the District Attorney Office, Sarlahi has demanded 12–15 years of prison for Bomjan and his two aides, Gyan Kumar Bomjan and Jit Bahadur Tamang, for their alleged involvement in the sexual exploitation of the minor. The chargesheet accuses Bomjan, the prime suspect, of raping a 15-year-old girl who was staying in his ashram (hermitage) at Pattharkot, Sarlahi, as an Ani (nun).The case filed against the main accused Bomjan stated that he raped the minor by luring her to his private quarters at 9:20pm on August 4, 2016. He has further been charged with threatening the girl with consequences if she disclosed the incident to others.
After the victim turned 18, on February 23, 2020, a complaint against him was registered at the District Police Office in Sarlahi.Before the rape complaint was registered with the police, other complaints about missing persons from several of his hermitages were also registered with the police.According to the police, Chinimaya Tamang of Myagang Rural Municipality, who was one of his disciples, has been missing since 2012 from Bomjan’s hermitage at Badegaun in Sindhupalchok. Likewise, Sanchalal Waiba, another disciple from Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City, has also been missing from the same hermitage since 2015.
Phulmaya Rumba, who was known as Dolmo, from the Hetauda Sub-metropolitan City, and Suresh Kumar Ale from Simara Sub-metropolitan City are the others missing from his hermitages for a long time, according to the police. “They are yet to be found,” said SSP Acharya.In January 2019, police raided his hermitage at Kamalamai in Sindhuli district after complaints were registered by the families of those missing, but the police failed to locate Bomjan.
In the same month, the police had raided another of his hermitages at Sindhupalchok, but once again failed to trace Bomjan.
Source: Here
