The Women and Children’s Bureau informed court it had sought the Attorney General’s advice on whether the chief layman of the controversial Nichiren Shoshu Buddhist Temple at Liberty Plaza belonging to a Japanese Mahayana Sect should be arrested as a suspect in an alleged sexual harassment case.

Making a complaint at the Women and Children’s Bureau, an eighteen-year-old school girl had alleged that on September 23, 2010 she was sexually harassed by the chief layman in the temple at a housing complex in Kollupitiya.

The complainant had told police she had been registered with the temple since some of her relatives were devotees in the temple. She had further told police that her relatives had been devotees of the temple for over a period of ten years and taught the Buddha’s preaching of Saddharma Pundarika Sutra (the lotus sutra) and their by trusted the chief layman in the temple.

The complainant further alleged that she was sexually harassed by the chief layman in the temple on September 23, 2010 at a housing complex in Kollupitiya on the day they had completed a dhamma propagation campaign.

Meanwhile, the chief layman in the temple giving a statement to the police had denied all allegations levelled against him and alleged that it is an attempt to tarnish his and the temple’s image. The Women and Children’s Bureau informed Court that they had sent the extracts of the investigations to the Attorney General over future legal action.

Colombo Fort Magistrate Ms. Lanka Jayaratne observed that there is no necessity of sending extracts of investigations to the Attorney General since they have enough evidence revealed by the victimised person.

A further magisterial inquiry into the matter was postponed for January 20. (Lakmal Sooriyagoda)