Dalai Lama apologises for kissing young boy on mouth & asking him to 'suck his tongue' in disturbing video

 The Dalai Lama has apologised after a disturbing video emerges of him kissing a young boy on the mouth before asking him to ‘suck his tongue’

The Dalai Lama has apologised on social media following the circulation of a video with him and a young boy. The video shows him kissing the boy before asking him to ‘suck his tongue’.

The clip is from February 2023 and was taken during a visit of a group of students to a temple in Northern India. The clip shows the Dalai Lama asking for a hug, then a kiss, and then a request to have his tongue sucked.

Laughter and clapping can be heard throughout the video. The office of the Buddhist spiritual leader has issued a statement on his behalf.

On his official Twitter page, a spokesperson for the Dalai Lama said: “A video clip has been circulating that shows a recent meeting when a young boy asked if he could give him a hug. His Holiness wishes to apologise to the boy and his family, as well as his many friends across the world, for the hurt his words may have caused.

“His Holiness often teases people he meets in an innocent and playful way, even in public and before cameras. He regrets the incident.”

His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet

It is not the first controversy in which the Dalai Lama has got himself involved with. In 2019 he said that if his successor was to be a woman, she should “be more attractive” .

The current Dalai Lama is the fourteenth to hold the position. His name is Tenzin Gyatso and was born in Tibet but has lived in India since moving to the country as a refugee in the late 1950s.