Fort Magistrate Thilina Gamage yesterday ordered the remand of Mahinda Kodituvakku who pretended to be Avalokiteshvara Bodhisattva, distort Buddhism through social media and hurt the feelings of Buddhists, till January 24.
The Prison Commissioner General was also ordered to refer the suspect to the National Mental Health Institute and submit a report on the mental condition of the suspect before January 24.
The Magistrate after looking into the suspect’s movements from the dock while Senior Deputy Solicitor General on behalf of the Attorney General Department and the lawyer on behalf of the suspect were making submission observed that the suspect was suffering from some mental disorder. The Magistrate ordered him to be remanded saying that public disturbance would occur due to the statements made by the suspect.
Magistrate Thilina Gamage made this order after considering the request made by Senior Deputy Solicitor General (SDSG) Dileepa Peiris on behalf of the Attorney General’s Department.The suspect was arrested by the Criminal Investigation Department while hiding in a rented house located in Weera Mawatha in Pannipitiya.
The Senior Deputy Solicitor General, who appeared for the Attorney General’s Department told Court that he is suffering from a mental disorder and should be shown mercy without punishment. He said that the suspect should be rehabilitated and asked the Court not to punish the suspect and refer him for rehabilitative treatment.
Senior Deputy Solicitor General informed that the suspect has been deported from Egypt because as he did not have valid visa. He said that the rented house of the suspect belongs to the wife of a former director of the Criminal Investigation Department. The suspect has been hiding in such an environment as there are threats to his life from the Buddhists. The Court was informed that he had five YouTube channels and there are several followers of him two doctors, a Sri Lankan living in Australia among his over 300 followers.
The suspect was arrested from a rented house at Weera Mawatha in Pannipitiya. Born in 1979 in Barawakumbura, the suspect has failed in the GCE Ordinary Level examination. He had stayed in Egypt for over four years without visa and later he has been deported after imposing a fine of US$ 450. However the suspect has arrived in the country through the VIP lounge after obtaining a special permission.
As he came out of the airport the suspect has received a welcome from his followers.
Subashini Senanayake