South African opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters. (EFF) today called on India to arrest and prosecute the Dalai Lama for “child abuse”. after a scandal unleashed by a video broadcast on social media in which a Buddhist leader asks a child to “suck his tongue” during an event.

“The pathetic apologies issued (…) by the office of the Dalai Lama must be rejected with condemnation. Child abuse cannot be justified,” said the radical left, the third largest political force in South Africa. in a statement released on Tuesday via the social networking site Twitter.

Footage that went viral on social media showed the Dalai Lama kissing a minor on the lips during the act and in the presence of other adults, and then asking him if he could “suck” his tongue.

After a few seconds, the Tibetan spiritual leader points to his mouth and sticks out his tongue.

Following the controversy, the Dalai Lama’s office, in a statement on Monday, expressed “apologies to the boy and his family, as well as to his many friends around the world, for the damage caused by his words.”

He also claimed that “His Holiness often innocently and mischievously teases the people he meets, even in public and on camera.”

However, for the EFF “it is significant that the apology was issued almost a month after the unfortunate incident and only after increased pressure activists against child abuse.

According to the party, “religious leaders should be protectors, not offenders, of the most vulnerable sections of society,” so “the law should not condone any religious leaders who commit offensive acts.”

Lhamo Dondhup, real name of the fourteenth Dalai Lama, fled with thousands of his countrymen to India in early 1959 after China’s brutal crackdown on a failed popular uprising in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet.

Since then, he has continued to fight for the freedom of his people, although he has always “systemically opposed violence”, for which he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989.

The Tibetan religious leader was born on July 6, 1935 in Taktser, in eastern Tibet, where, at the age of two, he became the spiritual head of his people after being recognized as the reincarnation of his predecessor.

(EFE)