Child abuse allegations shake ISKCON’s Kathmandu centre

The religious organisation’s global leadership has suspended eight Nepal-based officials pending an inquiry, nearly five months after a family reported alleged abuse to police. The person accused of sexually abusing a girl remains at large.

When Samrat joined the International Society for Krishna Consciousness Gurukul in Kathmandu as a school bus driver, he believed he was serving a higher divine purpose. His wife joined him, serving at the institution’s restaurant as a cook, while both of their children were enrolled as students in the residential Gurukul—the Bhaktivedanta Gurukul Institute in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu.