After images of suspects driving pleasure vehicles emerged, Bir Ram prayer center was shut down.
PUBLISHED: 18 Jan 2025 at 15: 05
A Buddhist priest was charged with rape on Saturday after allegedly taking advantage of a woman who was attending a yoga retreat at his abbey in Buri Ram.
On Saturday, Chalida Palamat, the president of the Get One Foundation, took a 38-year-old foreign person, referred to as A, to the Nong Song Hong authorities place to bring charges against the monastery in the Muang district of this northern province.  ,
The woman claims that a monk, only identified as Wichai, 59, sexually assaulted her on Wednesday night while she was a retreat at his monastery.
She informed the police that she had chosen to take part in the retreat after seeing video of monastery attendees achieving enlightenment on social media. She was given the option of paying nothing until she was able to overcome her suffering when she got in touch with the monk, who later gave her the name Saeng Tham Garden.
A arrived in Buri Ram on Monday without her spouse, who had previously planned to stay in Pattaya, and instead planned to spend two months with her husband.
A claimed that the monk entered her sleeping chamber at the monastery on Wednesday night and proceeded to molest her after being contacted by Mr. Wichai several times by phone. She was concerned that he had a weapon, so she avoided retaliation during the incident.
The next morning, A approached a nun and said that Mr Wichai attempted to convince her to remain at the monastery, offering her 8, 000 baht. She was able to record their conversation as proof, including the monk’s plea to her to” stay because of love.”
Ms. Chalida claimed that photos of Mr. Wichai posing with expensive cars and inviting people to his retreats were discovered as a result of an investigation into his Facebook account. She expressed concern that he was using the monastery as a platform to defraud women of money or to intimidate them.
Following this evidence, the Buddhist clergy leaders in Buri Ram unanimously decided to immediately expel Mr. Wichai from the monastery.
Additionally, police ordered the closure of the meditation center and forbid any further transmission of religious teachings or fundraising efforts.
Authorities are continuing to look into the additional allegations made in the case.