Nepal court sentences ‘Buddha Boy’ to 10 years in jail for sexual abuse

The Sarlahi District Court has sentenced Ram Bahadur Bamjan, a self-proclaimed ‘ascetic’ to 10 years in prison and fined Rs 500,000 after finding him guilty of committing sexual offenses against a minor.

A bench of Judge Jeevan Kumar Bhandari on Monday decided to sentence Bamjan to 10 years in prison and fined him Rs 500,000 to be given to the victim, records keeper at the court Sadan Adhikari informed.

The court had earlier convicted Bamjan for the crime and pronounced the sentence on Monday. The girl’s family had lodged a complaint at the District Police Office Malangwa, alleging that 30-year-old Bamjan, a resident of Nijgadh Municipality-12 of Bara District, had sexually abused her while they were staying at an ashram in Patharkot, Lalbandi Municipality of Sarlahi.

Bamjan, who was absconding for several years, was arrested by the CIB team from his residence in Budhanilkantha Municipality-6 of Kathmandu.

Bamjan, also known as ‘Little Buddha’, is accused of murdering, disappearing and sexually assaulting his followers living in the ashram. Five families have filed a complaint against Bamjan.   It is alleged that three young women and two young men living in the ashram have gone missing.