Gangraped Nepal nun now faces expulsion from nunnery

A 21 year-old Buddhist nun who was gang raped by five men in last month in a public bus, now faces the additional ordeal of being stripped of her religious habit and turned out of the nunery where she was apprenticed for 10 years. The young woman's family reported the newspaper that till now she was in a stake of shock after having waivered between life and death in a hospital in India's border town of Siliguri. But Nepal Buddhist organisations said that but she could no longer be considered a Bhikshuni (Buddhist nun). While condemning the attack and deploring the communist government's ignorance of a "rarest of a rare" crime in Nepal, the Buddhist organisations said that as a result, she lost her religion and could be no longer regarded as fit to be a  nun. Buddhist all over the world adhere to what he had laid down: that a person can no longer be considered ordained in case of having a physical relationship. Its applicable to both men and women. Now the victim, who is already reeling under the burden of paying the Indian hospital nearly Rs.3 lakh for her treatment, can no onger be back to the nunnery, where she had been admitted wher she was admitted when she was 12 years old. Asked if it was not a gross injustice being made to the victim. Sherpa was regretful but firm. He said that a vessel that is once damaged can longer be used for keeping water. Buddhism all over the world says this. Even Dalai Lama is of the opinion that a person cannot be a monk or nun after marriage. Pastor Robin Rai of the Catholic Church in Nepal said the church would not throw out a raped nun. He told the newspaer that "she is still the victim and to them, she is still a virgin". She remains a nun as long as she belongs to Christ. The 21 year-old was raped on June 24 in a bus while travelling in eastern Nepal. Due to the rains, she arrived very late at the destination and was forced to spend the night inside it. Her attackers are the driver of the bus, his two helpers and the driver and helper of another bus. They also looted the money she was carrying with her. The woman belongs to the Tamang community, one of theworst victims of human traffickers and suffering from a high degree of illeteracy and poverty. Reported by       AR