Spiritual leader known as ‘Buddha Boy’ arrested in Nepal on sexual abuse charges

CNN —

A controversial spiritual leader, whose supporters believe he is the reincarnation of Buddha, has been arrested in Nepal over sexual abuse charges, according to local police.

Ram Bahadur Bomjan, popularly called ‘Buddha Boy’ in local media, was arrested Tuesday evening while “absconding in the case of sexual exploitation of a minor,” the police said in a statement.

An arrest warrant against him was issued in 2020, according to the statement, “in the case of sexual abuse of a minor girl,” who was allegedly living as a nun at his ashram in the Bara district, south of the capital Kathmandu.

CNN has been unable to reach Bomjan for comment and was not able to determine if he has a lawyer.

Acting on a tip off, police say they tracked the 34-year-old to the outskirts of Kathmandu and “arrested him while he was trying to flee,” the statement added. They say they also seized more than a dozen mobile phones, five laptops and tablets, and more than $200,000 in Nepali and foreign currencies at his home.

This comes nearly two decades after he first gained international attention. In 2005, at the age of 15, he retreated into the jungle to pray for 10 months, local media reported at the time. His followers once claimed thathe did so without food, sleep or water.

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Those claims were never independently verified, but it led some to laud him as the reincarnation of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in Nepal some 2,500 years ago, and later became known simply as Buddha, meaning “enlightened one.”

Bomjan’s “Buddha Boy” moniker helped to further his fame, as thousands from across the country and neighboring India