Second woman alleges molestation by Dagri Rinpoche

DHARAMSALA, 9th May: In yet another molestation allegation against Dagri Rinpoche, a Spanish woman has alleged that she was molested by the senior Tibetan Buddhist teacher ten years ago when she was a nun.

In a video posted on YouTube on Tuesday, Jakaira Perez Valdivia has alleged that Dagri Rinpoche had molested her 10 years ago at his residence behind Namgyal Monastery when she visited him seeking advice for her back problem (pain).

She has stated that it took her a long time to come out in the open to tell about her ordeal because people tried to convince her otherwise, that the Rinpoche did it out of compassion.

She further claimed that there are many other women who were also molested by Dagri Rinpoche.

“Many girls and women; laywomen, nuns, Western, Tibetan, Indians have been molested by Dagri Rinpoche,” the Spanish women alleged while urging them to come forward and tell their stories.

Jakaira’s allegation follows a similar allegation levelled against Dagri Rinpoche about a week ago by an Indian woman who accused the Tibetan Buddhist teacher of molesting her on a Dharamsala bound flight from Delhi.

A file photo of Dagri Rinpoche.

A 30-year-old woman from Kinnaur has accused Rinpoche of molesting her on a morning flight from Delhi to Gagal (Dharamsala) on an Air India Flight on 3rd May”, reported several Hindi language newspapers citing an FIR lodged at the Gagal Police station.

The 65-year old Rinpoche was reportedly detained by the police for enquiry after which he was said to be released on bail.

Dagri Rinpoche, as one of the touring lamas(title for a teacher of the Dharma in Tibetan Buddhism) of the Foundation for the Preservation of the Mahayana Tradition (FPMT), conducts extensive teachings across Europe and Asia.

Attempts made by Tibet Express to get a response from Dagri Rinpoche through his Facebook and personal e-mail address were met with no response at all while numerous attempts to send e-mail to the international office of the FPMT and its President/CEO through the foundation’s webpage were unsuccessful.

Dagri Rinpoche is the reincarnation of Pari (Dagri) Dorje Chang, a great Buddhist scholar from Lhasa. He was born in Tibet in 1958 and grew up during the Cultural Revolution of 1966 – 1976. After his escape from Tibet in 1982, he studied Buddhist philosophy for 17 years and received the Geshe Lharampa degree.

The Tibetan spiritual leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama has consistently denounced ‘irresponsible and unethical behaviours from Buddhist teachers.

“People who commit sexual abuse don’t care about the Buddha’s teaching,” the Dalai Lama had said while addressing on a similar issue in Ladakh in 2017 and encouraged Buddhists followers to make the behaviours of abusive teachers public by approaching media.

“Make it public through media, though they may not pay heed to Buddhist teachings on ethical behaviour, they will likely take notice if their face appears in the media” the Dalai Lama had stated.

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