Chinese temple denies head abbot sexually harassed nuns
Celebrity abbot accused of coercing nuns to have sex with him in report written by former monks
BEIJING A prominent Beijing temple has denied allegations that its celebrity head abbot, a member of the Communist Party, coerced nuns into having sex with him, one of China's most high-profile #MeToo cases.
The allegations against Master Xuecheng and the Beijing Longquan Monastery burst into the public eye when a 95-page document written by two former monks, who also claimed the temple is in financial trouble, emerged online this week.
He is accused of sending illicit text messages to at least six women, tempting or threatening them to have sex with him.
Four gave in to his demands, the report said, adding that he tried to assert "mind control" by claiming the sex was a part of their Buddhist studies.
"Xuecheng manipulated disciples to serve his 'Buddhist Empire'... disciples under his control sacrificed their precious practices of Buddhist doctrines," the document said.
But the monaster denounced the dossier, which it says falsified evidence, calling it an attempt to tarnish the abbotand the monastery's reputation.
"The falsified evidence is based on a deliberate attempt to frame Master Xuecheng and can be considered a crime," the temple said on Weibo.
The report and posts about it have been taken down or censored on social media.
Meanwhile, China's powerful State Administration for Religious Affairs has begun investigating the allegations.
According to the state-run Global Times, the abbot was earlier brought in for questioning by the authorities but later released.
In a social media posting, one of the report's authors said he was forced to go public after the victims were ignored by the authorities who said they could not investigate the matter.
There is no legal definition of sexual harassment in China and no regulations on how to handle sexual assault cases.
Master Xuecheng is a prominent personality in Chinese Buddhist life with a social media following of millions.
He heads the Buddhist Association of China and is a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, a top advisory board.
Located outside Beijing, Longquan Monastery has made headlines for combining Buddhism with modern technology, launching last year a 60cm-tall robot monk that dispenses mantras and karmic advice.- AFP
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