<p>Colombo: One of Sri Lanka’s senior most Buddhist monks has been arrested for the sexual abuse of a minor girl, the police said on Saturday.</p>.<p>Venerable Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, is the chief priest of a prominent temple in the country. He was taken into custody on Friday night after a magistrate's court in the holy city of Anuradhapura issued an arrest warrant against him and the victim's mother for allegedly aiding and abetting child abuse.</p>.<p>The victim is a girl who is now 15 years old, according to the police, who was allegedly abused in the premises of a temple in Anuradhapura, police spokesperson FT Wootler told reporters.</p>.Girl fleeing sexual abuse by stepfather in Andhra gang-raped in Odisha.<p>A complaint about the incident was registered in March. It was initially about abduction and detention of a minor, reported the <em>Daily Mirror</em> media portal.</p>.<p>When a probe was initiated, the investigators found out more.</p>.<p>Hemarathana was arrested from the emergency unit of a private hospital in capital city Colombo - around 200 km from Anuradhapura - where he was undergoing some treatment, police said.</p>.<p>The mother has also been arrested, police said.</p>.<p>Hemarathana is the top Buddhist monk from Atamasthana, a group of sacred shrines, located in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. These sites are visited by large numbers of Buddhist pilgrims annually. </p>
<p>Colombo: One of Sri Lanka’s senior most Buddhist monks has been arrested for the sexual abuse of a minor girl, the police said on Saturday.</p>.<p>Venerable Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, is the chief priest of a prominent temple in the country. He was taken into custody on Friday night after a magistrate's court in the holy city of Anuradhapura issued an arrest warrant against him and the victim's mother for allegedly aiding and abetting child abuse.</p>.<p>The victim is a girl who is now 15 years old, according to the police, who was allegedly abused in the premises of a temple in Anuradhapura, police spokesperson FT Wootler told reporters.</p>.Girl fleeing sexual abuse by stepfather in Andhra gang-raped in Odisha.<p>A complaint about the incident was registered in March. It was initially about abduction and detention of a minor, reported the <em>Daily Mirror</em> media portal.</p>.<p>When a probe was initiated, the investigators found out more.</p>.<p>Hemarathana was arrested from the emergency unit of a private hospital in capital city Colombo - around 200 km from Anuradhapura - where he was undergoing some treatment, police said.</p>.<p>The mother has also been arrested, police said.</p>.<p>Hemarathana is the top Buddhist monk from Atamasthana, a group of sacred shrines, located in the ancient city of Anuradhapura. These sites are visited by large numbers of Buddhist pilgrims annually. </p>