Buddhist monk D. Rewath Thero, the general secretary of the Mahabodhi Society of India, has been sucked into a controversy after a video emerged on YouTube purportedly showing him engaged in a kiss with a woman.

The woman is said to be a teacher of Mahabodhi Society of India’s Calcutta headquarters nursery school. Thero dismissed the allegations. “As part of a conspiracy, my face has been pasted in the clip using technology,” he said. Chakma Buddhist monastery monk in-charge Bhikkhu Priyapala said: “It is shameful that a Buddhist monk wearing a civara is kissing a woman. Civara is a mark of restraint.”