Bangladeshi Buddhist monk Sanghpriya being taken to court in Gaya on Thursday. (PTI Photo)

GAYA: A Bodh Gaya-based monk, Sanghpriya, was arrested late Wednesday evening following complaints of physical abuse, including sodomy , of boys living under his patronage in the building of Prajna Social Welfare Trust, an NGO. Sanghpriya is the trust’s founder-secretary.

All victims are from Assam. According to Gaya SSP Rajiv Mishra , an FIR under different sections, including 377, IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, has been lodged against the monk .

The monk was produced in the court of special POCSO judge K B Pandey on Thursday afternoon. According to special public prosecutor Syed Qaiser Sharfuddin, the monk was remanded in two weeks’ judicial custody and sent to Gaya central jail.

The SSP said medical test would be conducted on all the 32 inmates. While 15 have since been accommodated in Gaya, the others remain in the NGO building under the care of a specially deputed magistrate.

All the children will be produced before the Child Welfare Board for it to take a final call on their future accommodation.

The building has been taken over by the district administration and police. According to reports, Sanghpriya recruited poverty-stricken boys from Assam with the promise of providing them education as well as Buddhist religious training.

However, videographed versions of the victims give a chilling account of the happenings inside the trust building. The older boys were subjected to cruel forms of pornography and perverted sex. Some boys were allegedly taken to Kolkata for the purpose of physical abuse.

Bodh Gaya-based International Buddhist Council chairman Ven Pragyadeep said on Thursday Sanghpriya was not a member of the council.

