සාමනේර අපයෝජනය නිසා වසර 20 කට හිරේට දැමූ හාමුදුරුවෝ නිදහස්

The Court of Appeal has ordered the acquittal of a monk who was previously convicted on charges of severely sexually abusing a minor monk and sentenced to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment. This decision was announced after considering an appeal filed by the accused monk against the sentence previously handed down by the Embilipitiya High Court.

The relevant decision was announced by Court of Appeal Judge Mr. Amal Ranaraja, and Judge Mr. Sham Mahendran has expressed his agreement to it.

The Attorney General had filed indictments against this accused before the Embilipitiya High Court, alleging that he had abused a minor novice monk between March 5 and March 31, 2018. After a lengthy trial, the High Court determined that the accused was guilty of the charge and sentenced him to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, a fine of one hundred thousand rupees, and ordered him to pay one hundred thousand rupees as compensation to the victim.

Claiming that the sentence handed down by the High Court against him was illegal, the accused appellant monk filed a petition with the Court of Appeal, requesting his acquittal from those charges. The accused party pointed out in their appeal that the father of the minor monk who was the complainant had made such a false accusation due to a personal animosity with him, and that the prosecution had not properly substantiated these charges during the High Court trial.

The Court of Appeal bench, having meticulously examined all the facts and evidence presented, determined that the prosecution had failed to prove the charges against the accused beyond a reasonable doubt in the High Court. For this reason, the judges nullified the sentence and orders given by the High Court and declared in their decision that the accused appellant monk was acquitted of all relevant charges.