By Phuntsok Yangchen
DHARAMSHALA, August 6: The Tibetan Prime Minister Dr. Lobsang Sangay condemned the recent incidents of child molestation in Tibetan communities including Songtsen High School in Nepal, Tibetan Children’s Village in Gopalpur and Mundgod Tibetan settlement.
“The incidents that occurred in Nepal, Gopalpur and Mundgod are very sad. As a father of a girl child, I got very disappointed when I heard of the incidents,” Sangay told participants of the training for trainers organized by the Tibetan Women’s Association.
Speaking on ‘Gender Empowerment and Significance of Women and Children in Exile’ the Tibetan PM said his administration has zero tolerance against such incidents and called such acts ‘criminal’. He further urged the Tibetan public to fight against such incidents and report it to the police.
Speaking at the inaugural ceremony of the same training, the Speaker of the Tibetan Parliament, Penpa Tsering, said that people convicted in such incidents must be severely punished in accordance with the law. “School authorities and the general public have to be very careful in avoiding such incidents in the first place. If such thing happens we have to make sure these people are punished in accordance with the law.”
In August last year, a five year old Tibetan girl was allegedly raped by two Tibetan men in Mungod Tibetan settlement. The incident was initially not reported to the police because the camp administration suggested that the matter be internally resolved as “it would bring bad name to the Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama.”
In May, a Tibetan man working as a cook in TCV Gopalpur, near Palampur allegedly raped a minor girl. He was later arrested by the police on charges of molestation.
In June, the headmaster of Songtsen High School in Nepal was arrested after 7 or 8 school girls complained of molestation and rape against him.
55 participants including six men from various parts of India are attending the training. The participants were granted an audience with the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama earlier today.
