The Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate’s Court has granted bail to Ven. Pallegama Hemarathana Thera, the Anuradhapura Atamasthanadhipathi, who is accused of sexually abusing a minor girl.
The court ordered bail on two personal sureties of Rs. 5 million each and cash bail of Rs. 100,000. The magistrate imposed a foreign travel ban and warned that bail would be revoked if conditions were violated or witnesses influenced, Newswire reported.
The monk had been remanded since his arrest by Gampaha Division Police Children and Women’s Bureau on May 9, with remand orders subsequently extended by the Anuradhapura court and the Colombo Fort court. He had been receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital while in remand custody before being transferred to the prison hospital on May 21.
Police told the court investigations were complete and the file had been forwarded to the Attorney General for legal advice. Charges have been filed under Penal Code provisions covering rape and grave sexual abuse of a minor.
In earlier proceedings, the court had ordered state and major private banks to provide reports on accounts held in the name of the victim’s mother, and directed telecoms operators to submit call and data analysis tied to phone numbers allegedly linked to the suspect and the child. The victim’s mother — accused of facilitating the abuse in exchange for money and facing human-trafficking-linked charges — remains in remand custody after the court rejected her bail request.
Hemarathana’s bail is the most significant procedural development in the case since the National Child Protection Authority pushed back against allegations of interference and a civil-society collective issued a child-protection statement. It is the first time in this cycle that an Atamasthanadhipathi — the highest-ranking Buddhist authority in Anuradhapura — has been released on bail while facing child sexual abuse charges.
Source: Newswire.
