Buddhist leader Dalai Lama stirs controversy after asking young boy to “suck my tongue”

Tibetan Buddhism leader Dalai Lama has asked for forgiveness after a viral video showed him kissing a young boy and asking him to suck his tongue.

In a statement on Monday, April 10, the office for Dalai Lama said he regretted the action and “wishes to apologize to the boy and his family, as well as his friends across the world, for the hurt his words have caused”.

The statement furthered: “His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way in public and before cameras.”

The apology came after a viral video shot during an event in Northern India in February showed Dalai Lama kissing a boy on the lips before stretching out his tongue and asking the boy to suck it.

Followers of the 87-year-old, who has been living as a refugee in India, have defended his action, stating it was a Buddhist custom, although it is not a well known practice among Buddhists.

But human rights organisations condemned the act, stating that it is a bad custom even if it is true.

Mimi Mefo Info