Ram Bahadur Bomjan, who had earlier gained prominence as an ascetic, has been found guilty of sexually abusing a minor.

The verdict was delivered by Judge Jeevan Kumar Bhandari of the Sarlahi District Court on Monday.

Bomjan was accused of sexually assaulting a minor in his ashram in Sarlahi’s Lalbandi Municipality. In addition to these charges, Bomjan faces allegations of sexual exploitation and murder of girls at another ashram he established in Bara’s Ratanpuri forest.

He was apprehended in January in Hattigaunda, Kathmandu. During his arrest, authorities confiscated NPR 3 crores 34 lakhs found from his residence which included NPR 30 lakhs 92 thousand in foreign currencies of 17 different countries. CIB also found 3 motorcycle billbooks, a key to a Toyota Hilux, 20 pen drives, a voice recorder, 2 memory cards, 2 laptops, 14 mobile phones, and 5 iPads/tablets.

Two associates of Bomjan, Gyan Kumar Bomjan from Makawanpur and Jit Badhadur Tamang from Sindhuli, accused in connection with these crimes have been acquitted.

The court has scheduled a hearing for sentencing on July 1.