The Court of Appeal has overturned the conviction of a Buddhist monk sentenced to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment for the grave sexual abuse of a 13-year-old boy, ruling that the teenage complainant’s evidence was “unreliable” because of critical inconsistencies.
Seethawaka Soratha Thero had been found guilty by the Avissawella High Court of abusing the boy inside temple living quarters in March 2016. A two-judge appellate bench ruled on Friday that the conviction could not stand.
The prosecution case rested heavily on the boy’s account that he had been invited into the temple while walking past and asked to apply oil to the monk’s legs and genitals. During the appeal, defence counsel highlighted what the court described as substantial contradictions between his trial testimony and his earlier statements to police and the Judicial Medical Officer (JMO) about the fundamental pretext of the alleged assault.
The court held that because the complainant could not consistently recall the basic facts of how the incident began, it cast doubt on the reliability of the entire narrative. Citing established precedent, the bench reaffirmed that a conviction cannot safely be based on testimony from a witness who gives conflicting versions of the same event at different times.
The Court of Appeal set aside the conviction, the 10-year sentence and the compensation order. The registrar has been instructed to transmit the judgment to the Avissawella High Court for immediate compliance.
The ruling lands while the courts continue to weigh several other prominent abuse cases involving members of the clergy, including the Anuradhapura Atamasthanadhipathi Hemarathana Thera child-abuse case at the Anuradhapura Magistrate’s Court.
