Friday, July 22, 2011

Outrage Over Treatment of Violated Buddhist Nun

From the Times of India:
A 21-year-old Buddhist nun from Nepal, who was said to have "lost" her religion and become unfit to remain a nun after being gangraped, is now likely to be re-admitted to her nunnery, thanks to a growing outrage worldwide. The young woman, who is now battling for her sanity in a hospital in Kathmandu, can return to the Karma Samtenling Nunnery at Pharping after she recovers and is discharged from the hospital, an authoritative Buddhist body in Nepal said.

The Nepal Buddhist Federation distanced itself from a statement signed by over a dozen organisations, including one of its own officials, that had said the attack on the woman, while to be condemned, however had made her lose her "sheel" – religion as well as vows taken as a nun. It said the official's stand that the nun had become a "flawed vessel" was his personal view and not the official stand of the Federation.

"The Federation, in collaboration with our allied Association Tamang Lama Gedung Sangh and the concerned nunnery, is taking steps to accommodate her back into the nunnery when she recovers and discharged from the hospital," it said in a statement. "(It) will do everything in its power to help restore the dignity of the nun and continue to fight for justice."

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