COLOMBO, Sri Lanka – A Sri Lankan court has granted bail to a prominent senior Buddhist monk arrested earlier this month on charges of sexually abusing a 14-year-old minor, a decision that has ignited fierce public discussion across the majority-Buddhist island nation. Seventy-one-year-old Rev. Pallegama Hemarathana, who has publicly denied all allegations against him, was taken into custody alongside the victim’s mother, who faces charges of assisting the monk in the alleged abuse. The pair were both released on bail Friday by a court in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka’s ancient cultural heartland.
Prior to his release, the high-profile cleric had avoided pre-trial detention in a standard correctional facility after claiming urgent medical concerns, instead completing his required custody period at a local hospital. Hemarathana holds significant standing in Sri Lanka’s Buddhist community: he serves as the custodian of eight major ancient Buddhist pilgrimage sites in Anuradhapura, locations that draw devout Buddhist visitors from across the globe.
With more than 70 percent of Sri Lanka’s 22 million residents identifying as Buddhist, monastic figures wield outsized influence over the country’s political and social spheres. The allegations against Hemarathana have split public opinion, with passionate arguments emerging both in defense of the monk and in support of holding him accountable under the law.
When the accused was brought to the Anuradhapura court for Friday’s bail hearing, women’s rights advocacy group Women for Freedom organized a silent demonstration outside the courthouse to demand justice for the minor victim. Hemamali Abeyratne, a representative of the group, criticized the widespread societal and institutional bias that has favored the accused monk over the young victim.
“As a community, we have to ask ourselves whether we are delivering real justice to this child,” Abeyratne stated. She emphasized that the status of the accused should never impact the pursuit of justice, noting, “The question is not whether the accused is a monk, a school principal or an ordinary member of society, but only whether justice prevails. We know that a child can become a victim in the hands of any member of this society.”
Legal representatives for the monk have pushed back against the accusations and the calls for extended pre-trial detention, claiming that non-governmental organizations and women’s rights groups hold pre-existing bias against the high-profile cleric. Mahesh Kotuwella, an attorney on Hemarathana’s legal team, alleged that civil society and what he called “anti-Buddhist groups” are actively working to sow social unrest and secure a longer detention period for the monk. The case is scheduled to return to court for further proceedings next month.