Sri Lanka’s most influential Buddhist monk Pallegama arrested over alleged sexual abuse of an 11-year-old girl

Colombo (Sri Lanka) – A senior and highly influential Buddhist monk in the country has been arrested. Seventy-one-year-old Buddhist monk Pallegama Hemarathana has been accused of sexually abusing an 11-year-old girl. The Police arrested the accused monk from a private hospital in Colombo. The alleged incident of sexual abuse took place at a Buddhist temple in Anuradhapura, where Hemarathana serves as the chief priest.

🚨 Senior Sri Lankan Buddhist monk Pallegama Hemarathana Thera arrested over allegations of repeated sexual abuse of a minor girl.

The girl’s mother was also arrested for aiding the abuse.

Arrests involving senior Buddhist monks are extremely rare in Sri Lanka, where the clergy… pic.twitter.com/XoiD16MH17

— Sanatan Prabhat (@SanatanPrabhat) May 11, 2026

1. The victim’s mother has also been arrested in this case. She has been accused of helping the accused monk conceal the crime. The Police are interrogating both of them. Considering the seriousness of the case, the Court had earlier imposed a travel ban on the accused monk. The Police stated that further action would be taken according to the Court’s directions and that the accused would soon be produced before the Court.

2. Pallegama Hemarathana is considered one of the most influential Buddhist monks in Sri Lanka. People in Sri Lanka believe that a sacred tree there grew from a branch of the Bodhi Tree in Gaya, India. Hemarathana is regarded as the chief custodian of this sacred tree. It is believed that Bhagwan Buddha attained enlightenment under the original Bodhi Tree.