A Nepalese court on Monday sentenced a man believed by devotees to be a reincarnation of Buddha to 10 years in prison for child sexual abuse.
Known to his followers as “Buddha Boy”, Ram Bahadur Bomjan rose to fame as a teenager after his followers said he could meditate for months on end without water, food or sleep.
He was convicted of child sexual abuse last week at a court in the southern Nepalese town of Salahi.
“He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison,” district court clerk Sadan Adhikari told AFP.
Bomjan was also fined 500,000 Nepalese rupees ($3,743).
The 33-year-old guru has a loyal following but has long been accused of physical and sexual assaults on followers and has been in hiding from authorities for several years.
Nepal’s Central Bureau of Investigation arrested him in January from a house on the outskirts of the capital, Kathmandu.
Police said the man was arrested with bundles of cash worth 30 million Nepalese rupees and $22,500 in foreign currency.
In 2010, dozens of assault allegations were filed against Beomjan.
He said he beat up his victims because they disturbed his meditation.
An 18-year-old nun also accused Bomjan of raping her at the convent in 2018.
The following year, police launched a new investigation into him after a family member reported four devotees had disappeared from one of his monasteries.
Before his escape, Beomjan still led a large group of followers.
On one occasion, tens of thousands of people gathered deep in the jungle to witness what was said to be a miraculous meditation.
Bomjan, 16, was lost in the wilderness of eastern Nepal for nine months and Buddhist monks kept a round-the-clock watch over him, praying for his safe return.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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