Monk in plea to Holyrood found guilty of groping
A BUDDHIST monk who addressed the Scottish Parliament in a plea to support rebuilding in his native Sri Lanka faces a ban on working with vulnerable people after groping female students.
Rewatha Kamburawala was convicted on three charges of behaving in a threatening or abusive manner towards three females between April
2015 and March 2016.
During his trial last month, one woman told of incidents by Kamburawala, while she was on a retreat The Glasgow Mindfulness Centre. She said he touched her body, induced her to touch him and pulled her towards him.
Sheriff Ian Fleming also convicted Kamburawala of charges against two other students at the Maryhill centre, including making sexual remarks and touching them .
At Glasgow Sheriff Court, the 47-year-old was given a community payback order of 200 hours of unpaid work.
Sheriff Fleming said he was going to refer the case to allow the Scottish Parliament to decide if Kamburawala should be stopped from working with vulnerable people and be registered for his offences.
In 2009 he was made Chief Sangha Nayake for the UK by The High Ambassador for World Interfaith Dialogue, Peace and Harmony.
As Head of Scotland Buddhist Temple, he later spoke before the Scottish Parliament to encourage support for relief efforts.