India, May 10 -- One of Sri Lanka's senior most Buddhist monks has been arrested for the sexual abuse of a minor girl, the police said on Saturday.

Venerable Pallegama Hemarathana, 71, is the chief priest of a prominent temple in the country.

He was taken into custody on Friday night after a magistrate's court in the holy city of Anuradhapura issued an arrest warrant against him and the victim's mother for allegedly aiding and abetting child abuse.

The victim is a girl who is now 15 years old, according to the police, who was allegedly abused in the premises of a temple in Anuradhapura, police spokesperson FT Wootler told reporters.

A complaint about the incident was registered in March. It was initially about abduction and detention ...