A senior monk in central Kanchanaburi province was disrobed and arrested yesterday after his beatings left a 9-year-old novice monk with a broken arm and wrist along with a serious concussion.
Luang Ta Supachai Sutthiyano, 64, was defrocked before police took him to the Tha Maka station on charges of assault. He’s now known by his layman name: Supachai Bunyalukka.
Supachai admitted to police that he had lost his temper and used a stick to beat Wattanapol Sisawad, 9, a novice monk from his Don Khamin temple on Friday because the boy misbehaved, Matichon reported.
Another novice at the temple said Wattanapol was also forced to sit in a basin filled with water for about three hours, then stand up to be hit with a stick.
Volunteers at the temple took the victim to the hospital on Saturday after spotting the child with bruises all over his body. He was later transferred to the intensive care unit at Paholpolpayuhasena Hospital after his condition worsened, Sanook reported.
Doctors said blows to the head had resulted in a concussion, while his arm and wrist were also broken.
Sukanya Tunhin, the mother of the injured novice, filed the complaint with police after seeing what had happened to her son.
She said Wattanapol had become a novice monk on April 2, and she didn’t have much time to visit him because she had to work.
It’s not unusual for children to take the saffron at a young age in Thailand, and it rarely has to do with religious fervor. Pagodas are often a way for poorer families to make sure their children are fed and educated if they have no other way to do so.
In Wattanapol’s case, he appears to have been undergoing a novice training that was only to have lasted the summer.
