Nepal’s Boy Buddha frees Slovak hostage
A Slovak woman held captive for three months by followers of Ram Bahadur Bamjan, 22, popular as Nepal’s ‘Buddha Boy’, was released on Sunday night.
The woman identified only as Marichi, 35, and another woman from Nepal had been kept inside a jungle in Bara district bordering India for allegedly practicing witchcraft to disrupt Bamjan’s meditation.
Following media reports of their disappearance on Sunday, Bamjan’s followers dropped Marichi at a hotel in Simara in Bara district around 9 pm. There’s no news of the Nepali woman.
Reports say the Slovak woman has a broken arm and is very weak. She told local journalists that she has been asked by Bamjan’s followers not to reveal anything about her ordeal to the media or police.
Police sub-inspector Padam Bahadur Khadka of Simara police station stated further investigations into the long disappearance of the two women are on.
Marichi had arrived in Nepal 11 months ago and stayed in a hotel Simara before shifting to a monastery. She was allegedly whisked away by two youths on a motorcycle on December 28.
The police came to know about the disappearance of the two women last week after a complaint was lodged. On questioning, Bamjan’s followers admitted to keeping them in captivity.
Bamjan had gained worldwide publicity seven years ago after reportedly meditating without food or water for several months—much like Lord Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.
His followers claim Bamjan who has been meditating since May 2005 is a reincarnation of Lord Buddha.
Last Thursday, his followers beat up five journalists and took away their cameras while they were filming Bamjan’s sermon. He was also accused of beating up some local residents last year.
Less time to read?
Try Quickreads
-
Google to delete user location history on US abortion clinic visits
"If our systems identify that someone has visited one of these places, we will delete these entries from Location History soon after they visit," Jen Fitzpatrick, a senior vice president at Google, wrote in a blog post. "This change will take effect in the coming weeks."
-
Two Indo-Canadian academics honoured with Order of Canada
Two Indo-Canadian academics, working on research to advance the betterment of mankind, have been honoured with one of the country's most prestigious awards, the Order of Canada. Their names were in the list published by the office of the governor-general of Canada Mary Simon. Both have been invested (as the bestowal of the awards is described) into the Order as a Member. They are professors Ajay Agrawal and Parminder Raina.
-
Elon Musk's Twitter hiatus, in 2nd week now, generates curiosity
The world's richest person, Elon Musk, has not tweeted in about 10 days and it can't go unnoticed. The 51-year-old business tycoon has 100 million followers on the microblogging site, which he is planning to buy. Since April, he has been making headlines for the $44 billion deal and his comments and concerns about the presence of a large number of fake accounts on Twitter.
-
Taliban's reclusive supreme leader attends gathering in Kabul: Report
The Taliban's reclusive supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada joined a large gathering of nationwide religious leaders in Kabul on Friday, the state news agency said, adding he would give a speech. The Taliban's state-run Bakhtar News Agency confirmed the reclusive leader, who is based in the southern city of Kandahar, was attending the meeting of more than 3,000 male participants from around the country, aimed at discussing issues of national unity.
-
July 1: Canada to mark 155th anniversary of its formation
As the country prepares to celebrate the 155th anniversary of the formation of the Canadian Confederation, Canada Day, the traditional centre of festivities, Parliament Hill in Ottawa, will be off limits as protesters linked to the Freedom Convoy begin gathering in the capital for the long weekend. Various events have been listed by protesters including a march to Parliament Hill on Friday.
