By Colombo Telegraph –
Pahalagama Somaratana Thero with President Rajapakse
Pahalagama Somaratana Thero, chief incumbent of Thames Buddhist Vihara, Croydon, has been charged with another eight counts of sexual abuse on Friday, 11 November, the London Metropolitan police told Colombo Telegraph. According to the metropolitan police these eight indecent assaults on a female under 14 took place between January 01,1985 and December 31,1986 at an address in Croydon.The 65-year-old Pahalagama Somaratana thero appeared on bail at Feltham Magistrates’ Court on Friday, 2 December and was bailed to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on December 20, 2011.
On Friday, 23 September Phalagama Somartana thero of Dulverton Road, Croydon appeared on bail at Feltham Magistrates’ Court charged with rape of another female under 16 between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 1978 at an address in Chiswick and indecent assault on a female under 16 between January 1, 1977 and December 31, 1978 at an address in Chiswick.
Related news; London Chief Buddhist Thero Child Abuse Case – High Commission to represent Thero ?
Update- London Chief Buddhist Thero remanded for rape
London Chief Buddhist Thero, 65, held by rape cops
De Mel / December 9, 2011
Guess he is moving with the times and becoming westernized
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kumudini / December 9, 2011
This is wrong information ., There was only one count of sexual assault . How did you arrive at a figure of figure of 8 ?????
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Lal Rathnayake / December 9, 2011
Kumuduni, these are new charges, not the old case.
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kumudini / December 9, 2011
I am very aware that this is not the old case,The old case was only for one rape mentioned from 1977 to 1978. However subsequent case on the11 th of November, was for a case only of sexual assault which was filed not rape and definitely not 8. .
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hansan / May 2, 2012
I hope kumudini now knows what is rape.
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Menudani / December 9, 2011
@Kumuduni, if you don’t trust Colombo Telegraph for 8 counts, just call Metropolitan Police Media Center. this is the number, 0207 2302171 and let all of us know!! please share with me!
Re. Rape;
The new offence of rape in section 1(1) SOA 2003 includes oral and anal penetration with a penis. This is a change from the previous law which was only concerned with vaginal penetration and used other offences to criminalise these forms of sexual violence (such as indecent assault).
Specific offences relating to children under 13, 16 and 18
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/Definitionofrape2.php
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Ratubanda / December 9, 2011
one is more than enough
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Ruwan - Croyden / December 9, 2011
Kumuduni madam be aware of this! you say you are well aware of the this case. did you help him? other wise how did you know better than the victim? The offence of Rape (Sec 1(1) SOA 2003) can only be committed by a man; however, a woman can be charged with, or convicted of rape as a secondary party. For example, a woman may be convicted of rape where she facilitated (helped) a man who has raped another person.
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Itipandama / December 9, 2011
@Kumuduni, oyada pahana alluve or are u the Dayakaya who is going with him?? ;) :) :) :)
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Kulta / December 9, 2011
does it realy matter, once is enoough
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Thalagoya / December 10, 2011
Kumudini what nonsense are you talking. Whatever the number is.(removed by the moderator)
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Wasantha Desilva / December 10, 2011
what a stupid answer !one count of rape or eight counts of rape ,its RAPE…he should be shot.
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Dr, Maverick / December 11, 2011
The COUNTs does not matter to the Thero – It is the C*NTS that matters the Thero
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Chand / December 10, 2011
This is what happen when politics close to monks, don’t care anything, if this happen in Sri Lanka, never will go out and it stays forever even if out, politics leaders cover off that. Very sad.
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Gunasekera / December 9, 2011
Catholic priests go to heaven via Pedophilia and I guess Buddhist monks seek Nirvana via pedophilia too.
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Babu / December 9, 2011
Guess! who blessed Mahinda?
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Sathyapala / December 9, 2011
Rape was NOT mentioned in any of the news items so far. it was always ‘ inapropiate touching’ , word ‘rape’ has now been used and wonder why ? I suppose onlt the London metropolitan police could clarify this.
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Kalu Albert / December 9, 2011
sathyapala, http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/rape_1?q=rape
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Menudani / December 9, 2011
@Sathyapala, The new offence of rape in section 1(1) SOA 2003 includes oral and anal penetration with a penis. This is a change from the previous law which was only concerned with vaginal penetration and used other offences to criminalise these forms of sexual violence (such as indecent assault).
Note; Specific offences relating to children under 13, 16 and 18
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/Definitionofrape2.php
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Thalagoya / December 10, 2011
Ado stahyapala, thota pissuda, This priest is (removed by the moderator)
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tomsamusa / December 9, 2011
What a disgrace; Buddha’s tooth relic in maligawa in crumbling in shame.
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kumara / December 9, 2011
what a disgrace??? If you file charges against monks in Sri lanka it will be in tens of thousands. People keep quite just to respect Lord Buddha.
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Jay Ranaweera / December 9, 2011
Kumara, How about the Christian Clergy? They r worse!!! With everu opportunity they MOLEST YOUNG BOYS,GIRLS Etc. So do not talk rubbish.
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namal / December 9, 2011
hello Ranaweera, Why do you want to drag in Christian clergy in this scene? If you want to, you bring in all religious groups where such cases are reported. When you say clergy, it includes everybody. A few bad guys do not mean every body. How do you judge Christian clergy are the worst? I think you have an inferiority complex to drag in others and blames others. Similarly, there are very good Buddhist monks and a few rotten guys do not destroy you respect for other monks as well as to the teaching of the Lord Buddha. How childish we are in our blame game!!!
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Len / December 10, 2011
Well done Jay always point the finger at some one else for a excuse.
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Mohan / December 9, 2011
You can get more detail from the court on T’phone 0208 380 4500 and give the case no T20117609. The trial date is fixed on 20th Aprial 2012. This Mr Somaratana has already got a letter from President Mahinda Requesting for him to go to Sri Lanka for some urgent work and this english court dont entertain any of these letters. For court dates you can log on to “courtserve.net” click Isleworth crown court. You can only check the details only on the case date or the previous day afternoon. In UK all these are straight forward any one can go to courts watch whats happening. So pls come to Isleworth crown court on 20th Dec 2011.
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SR / December 9, 2011
අපේ ගරු සංඝයා වහන්සේලාගේ අති පුජ්ජය නම කැත කරන්න
LTTE / ක්රිස්තියානි පල්ලියේ වැඩක් මේක
ලංකාවේ කීර්තිය නැති කරන ජාත්යන්තර කුමන්ත්රණයේ කොටසක්!
lol ;)
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Mahasona / December 10, 2011
of course hariyata hari amnesty eke Jak gei RAM Thambiah London LTTE EKE vada
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null / December 12, 2011
ඔව් ඔව් මේ වැඩ කරන්න හාමුදුරුවන්ගේ යට එකට පනදෙන්න ඇත්තේ ඔය කියන කට්ටියම (කතෝලික පල්ලිය / එල් ටි ටි එක / මුස්ලිම් සෙනග) වෙන්න ඇති…. අනේ බබාලා .. දැන් ලේසිය්නේ ‘අන්යාගමික කුමන්තරණක් කියල වැඩේ යටගහන්න.. දැන් ලංකාවේ ලිපක කොස් ඇටයක් පිපුරුවත් කියන්නේ ‘අන්යාගමික කුමන්ත්රණ යක් කියල …මෝඩ අන්තවාදින්ව ලේසියෙන්ම අන්දවන්න පුළුවන් එකියල
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Gamlath / December 9, 2011
What a shame, utter disgrace for the country and the religion, State sponsered?
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kukluxclan / December 9, 2011
@ kumudini.. are you a relation of this thero?
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KUMUDINI / December 15, 2011
NO !
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Jayantha / December 9, 2011
It is beginning to be acknowledged that Childhood Sexual Abuse happens far more frequently than most people believed, or previously wanted to believe. Around 65% of women that contact rape crisis centres are adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. my heart with these two women. we are with you!!
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Jayantha / December 9, 2011
sorry, this is the source ; http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/childsexualabuse2.php
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Omali / December 9, 2011
We are with you. one should not come with conspiracy theories. read this; As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse it is possible that you will be feeling recurrent depression or anxiety; you may suffer panic attacks, phobias and/or flashbacks. Maybe you are filled with anger and shame and/or feel worthless. You cry a lot or you find it difficult to show emotion. Perhaps you suffer from disturbing thought patterns and intrusive memories, and your feelings reveal themselves in physical symptoms, unexplained illnesses – maybe you find relief by self-harming – cutting or burning yourself, neglecting your needs or drinking too much. Feeling sick or afraid when you hear the abuser’s voice or a similar voice, seeing an object or place that reminds you of the abuse, feeling confused about what happened, remembering only parts of what happened or remembering it in vivid detail, blaming yourself for what happened are all common responses to childhood sexual abuse.
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SRILANKA DAYAKA / January 24, 2012
I feel very sorry for you for carrying this burden in your mind for the rest of your life. may your sufferings be erased from your thoughts by the grace of GOD and find some peace in your mind. god bless you child.
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R Jayadevan / December 9, 2011
Burden of proof in criminal cases in the UK are of high degree. For the case to enter the Court with the approval of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is not something that can be rediculed. It is now for the defence solicitors to counter the charges with facts and let us wait for the judement date. With even the sufficient facts, CPS has failed on cases on high degree proof criteria and technialities and at the same time CPS has been successful in many cases when cases are presented with hard evidence.
Britain is not Sri Lanka. The seperation of powers is great that case law is part of the unwritten British constitution.
For the emotional outcries herein, once again, let us wait for the judgement day.
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That is Sri Lanka / December 9, 2011
In a index case in the Katharagama area, the head clergy threatened to kill the 4 sisters imprisoned and put them in the dungeon in the room that was covered with metal sheet!In the same case he used to phone a magistrate, the OIC and officials in the presidential secretariat in front of the girls and tell them how powerful he is! He also asked the girls to count 15,000 /= from the donations telling them the OIC is coming to collect it.
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Saman Perera / December 9, 2011
If you have been sexually abused as a child you may recognise that you experience some of the effects mentioned above. Maybe it feels quite frightening to see all the possible ways that you may have been affected written down. Whatever those effects are, there are also ways of improving your life that you can benefit from. It is important to understand that however you have been affected, and whatever your feelings about the abuse, it is OK to feel whatever you do – your feelings are individual and normal.
It is also important to believe that it is never the fault of the child when they have been abused – the blame and guilt always lie with the abuser.
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Saman Perera / December 9, 2011
Abuse thrives on secrecy, and speaking out and acknowledging what happened to you is a very important part of healing. Some survivors find it easier to speak to people over the phone to begin with; others find it helpful to read books on the subject – reading the testimonies of other survivors can help you to feel less isolated.
As a first step you could try talking through your options with a rape crisis worker on our helpline. You are in control of the call, and can decide what you do or do not want to disclose. It may help you to be clear in your own mind how you want to proceed with your healing. It is completely confidential.
There are several stages in the process of healing including acknowledging what happened to you, breaking the silence, believing that you were not to blame, living through and integrating the feelings of grief, pain and anger and, maybe if it feels right for you, confronting your abuser. It is hard work and it takes time and it may be painful, but eventually you will reach what is known as the stage of resolution, where, at last, you will be free to move on and concentrate on the present and your aspirations for the future.
Childhood Sexual Abuse (reproduced by kind permission of Croydon Rape and Sexual Abuse Support Centre)
http://www.rapecrisis.org.uk/childsexualabuse2.php
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Pansale keliya / December 9, 2011
අනිවාර්යෙන්ම ඔය දුෂණයට ලක්වුණු (කියල කියන) ළමය්න්ගේ දෙමාපියන් එක්කෝ ක්රිස්තියානි
නැත්තම් දෙමල
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uk / December 10, 2011
Most probably they are! but there must be something to initiate the cycle and Priests (whatever the religion they belong) are notorious for these kind of things. No body can just accuse people without some form of initiative factor.
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Mahasona / December 10, 2011
hariyata hari
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Dil / December 12, 2011
as I know the case filed against by a woman who was raped by this monk in nineteen seventees was one of the devotees (Daayaka) in this temple… so has it begun…. and also if he has raped then there is no race or religion it is a crime…do not look at everything in petty racist view … give up the Sri Lankan islandic racist “Sinhala Buddhist ONLY’ mentality and try to be a human being …
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London boy / December 9, 2011
as far as I know PATTA SINHALA BUDDHISTS, even the first case she had to wait until her father died, coz her father Buddhists background. he didnt wanted go public.
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Pansale keliya / December 9, 2011
අහෙනම් ඔය ගැහැණු ළමය් සුද්දන්ග් Love කරනවා ඇති. ඒ සුද්දෝ තමය් අපේ සිංහල ළමයින්ගේ මනස විකුර්ති කරලා
අපේ හමුදුරිවන්ගේ පුජ්ජය නාමය කෙළසන්න හදන්නේ lol
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Mahasona / December 10, 2011
(Removed by the moderator)
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maithri / December 9, 2011
I wish never to hear of such news, but our clergy has regularly let us down, that is not the fault of Buddhism or any other religion, but of the human being who commits such actions from a position of trust. My thoughts are for the victim/s the person who commits a crime being punished hardly make the suffering any less for the victim. If this man committed this crime he deserves all the force that law can exert on him and the rest of us must despice him and work to prevent such criminals from calling them selves clergy and hiding behind robes.
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DG US / December 9, 2011
What is so surprising.?? They have been rapist including little boys and Abithayas for 2,000 years…
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Saman / December 9, 2011
Buddhist monks are not saints. They are also human beings with normal sexual feelings and desires. As a Buddhist who has associated many priests over the years, I can say that many buddhist priests in Sri Lanka and abroad have engaged in sexual activities. Some have had mistresses and children well taken care of. It takes two to tango, and most encounters are consensual. It is unfortunate, however, when young boys and girls are lured to have oral, anal or vaginal sex — by clergy of any denomination, especially buddhist priests. It is a heinous crime as these innocent youngsters silently suffer when they grow up to realize that the crime was committed after all by a buddhist priest who has vowed to abstain from such indecent behaviour.
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Mahasona / December 10, 2011
DNA test is the best for this
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kingkong / December 15, 2011
how stupid can you be?
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fayaz / December 14, 2011
ok.. so let priesthood get married… then no problems or lesser evil
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tomsamusa / December 9, 2011
I fully agree with above comments by saman. Itoo had had witnessed smoking,masturbating behind the curtain in bikku ward of CGH. This is in addition to flirting with young nurses who try to serve them with respect.
It was well known ,Buddarkita,murderer of SWRD was a mahanayake and an alcoholic.
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Mahasona / December 10, 2011
Tom You are a tamil Christian dont disgrace ok, that is better than gay fathers in western
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Dil / December 12, 2011
hahah! why do you drag the race or religion or the Christian clergy in this matter…. if Tom says the truth accept if not do not accept… thats all…hahhah
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Dimanthi / December 9, 2011
this should be probed into more… just a mere accusation is not sufficient. but if this is true, whether its 1 count or 8 counts of rape, it is totally unacceptable
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Sinhaya / December 9, 2011
It is time overdue that Buddhists take this seriously and do everything possible from village level up in naming and shaming such debased monks.
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Sathees / December 10, 2011
Who are the monks now-a-days? Buddha left the castle and ruling, Monks want to return to castle and rule! They are in Sri Lankan parliment as MP’s. What a shame!!
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charmalie / December 10, 2011
Chase him away,pl
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kudu / December 10, 2011
those who write here nonsence beware england is not a banana republic like srilanka. these accusations are serious . wait and see how the british law will punish a (removed by the moderator). these are serious allegations.
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kudu / December 10, 2011
are there any more cases waiting to surface? above i see so many subscribers have given threads how to contact the relevant organisation to log complaints of similar nature/ please do not suffer in silence . you’re living in ENGLAND NOT IN SL.do not feel threatned.
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grease yakka / December 10, 2011
Where is mervyn ? Hope he is still a vegan.
Duminda never rapes ? He too a victim of rape.
Our monks never have sexual desires,
Our monks are victim of child abuse.
This is all about political satire.
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S Gunawardena / December 10, 2011
Few years ago a Similar thing happend in Aus. Monk was sent to the jail. It was very clear that incidend was plannd and framed by some of our people with the help of LTTE .
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