Nepalese “Buddha boy” admits to beating up locals for disturbing his meditation

LONDON - Nepal’s “Buddha Boy”, who is being hailed as a reincarnation of Lord Buddha, is being questioned by police after local villagers in the country’s Bara district complained about being assaulted by him in a forest. Twenty-year-old Ram Bahadur Bamjan has admitted that he beat up locals in the jungles of Manaharwa, where he was meditating.

“They disturbed me while I was meditating… tried to manhandle me, I was therefore forced to beat them,” the BBC quoted Bamjan, as saying.

Bara district’s Superintendent of Police, Manoj Neupane said that police were investigating the case after 17 people had lodged complaints against him.

“Those who had been injured were sent for medical checks,” he said.

Bomjan stressed that he had slapped the victims “two or three times” after they came to his platform and mimicked him, while the villagers allege they were assaulted when had been looking for wild fruit and vegetables.

Bomjan is famed for spending months in the forest without eating. He claims to have not eaten since 2005.

In November 2009, he campaigned against the mass sacrifice of around 250,000 animals at the Gadhimai festival in southern Nepal. (ANI)